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VOLUME THE FIRST 


y 


Dicunt in tenero gramine pinguittm 
Custodes ovium carmina, fistula 
Delectantque Deum, cui pecus et nigri 
Colles Arcadiae placent. 

— Horace. 


\i 


1 


Icottd!) I^otig0 


IN TWO VOLUMES 


VOLUME THE FIRST 


(SlaiEieatn 

HUGH HOPKINS 


BDII«&URGH : 

PRINTED BY BALLANTYKB AND COMPANY, 

PAUL'S WORK. 


The First Edition of " RitsOn's Scotish Songs " was 
published in 1794, and the number of copies printed 
does not seem to have been great, as for many years 
the work has been very scarce. This, and the fact 
that it is almost the only one of Ritson's works that 
has not been reprinted, has induced the Publisher to 
issue this, the Second Edition. While the orthography 
of the Ballads has been carefully adhered to, a num- 
ber of t3rpographical errors in the Songs have been 
corrected, and blanks in the Music and Glossary 

supplied. 

J. A. 

Glasgow, mdccclxix. 


PREFACE. 


r is the obseryation of an ingenious writer that 
"the Scottish* melodies contain strong ex- 
pression of the passions, particularly of the 
melancholy kind ; in which the air ofien 
finely coiresponds to the subject of the song. Love," 
says he, " in its various situations of hope, success, dis- 
appointment, and despair, is finely expressed in the 
natural melody of the old Scottish songs." " It were 
endless," he adds, "to run through the many fine airs 
expressive of sentiment and passion in the number of 
our Scottish songs, which, when sung in the genuine 
natural manner, must affect the heart of every person 
of feeling, whose taste is not vitiated and seduced by 
fashion and novelty." For these reasons the words and 
melody of a Scotish song should be ever inseparable ; 
" The word iVuftii^ is an improper orthngraphj' of .Scirtw^,' Scalch 
is still more corrupt ; and Sceti (as an adjective) a national barbar- 
ism : which is observed here once for all, to prevent the imputation 
of inconsistency and confasion, as a direct quotation should be always 
literal. 


2 PREFACE, 

and the editor hopes he will be found to have rendered 
an acceptable service in the selection he now offers to 
the public. It may be of some consequence to learn, 
that this is by no means one of those crude and hasty 
publications of which there are too frequent instances; 
it has received the occasional attention of many years, 
and no opportunity has been neglected of rendering it 
more worthy of approbation ; the editor having even 
made repeated visits to different parts of Scotland for 
the purpose of obtaining materials or information upon 
the subject. How far these pains have been successful, 
must be left to the candour of the intelligent reader, and 
to the malice of the Critical Revieiv, 

The collection is divided into four classes ; of which 
the first will be found to consist of Love Songs, accord- 
ing to the different effects of that pleasing, powerful, 
capricious, and fatal passion ; as courtship, marriage, 
importunity, complaint, despair, infidelity, absence, con- 
stancy, death, and dishonour; the second of Comic 
Songs, or songs of humour; the third of Historical, 
Political, and Martial Songs; and the fourth of Ro- 
mantic and Legendary Songs, or what are usually and 
properly denominated Ballads. 

The orthography of each song is that of the authority 
from which it is taken, and which (unless, perhaps, in a 
single instance) has never been intentionally deserted, 
except where an evident t)rpographical error, or slip of 
the pen, may have occasioned a correction, of which the 
reader will be apprised by the usual distinction. This 
scrupulous adherence to the copies made use of requires 
that they should be accurately described. 


PREFACE. 3 

In class I. songs i., xx., xxvii., xxxiii., xxxv., and Ixviii. 
are taken from the author's Poems, Edinburgh, 1760; 
songs ii., vi., viii.y x., xii., xiii., li., and liii., from the author's 
Poems, London, 1731 ; songs iii., iv., v., vii., xi., xxv., 
xxviii., xxxviii., xliii., xlvii., Iv., lix., Ix., Ixiii., Ixv., 
and Ixx., from Ramsay's "Tea-table Miscellany," 1750; 
songs ix. and xxxvi., from " Roderick Random," London, 
1766 ; songs xiv., xv., xix., xxi., xxii., xxiv., xxvi., xxvii., 
xl., xlL, xlii., xlv., xlvi., xlviii., xlix., 1., Iii., IvL, Ivii., Ixi., 
Ixii.,* and Ixvi., from "Ancient and Modem Scottish 
Songs, Heroic Ballads," &c., Edinburgh, 1769 and 1776; 
songs xvi., liv., Ixiv., from the author's Works, London, 
1759; song xvii. is from the Edinburgh Magazine for 
December 1773 ; song xviii., from the author's Works, 
London, 1762 ; song xxiii., from a manuscript copy trans- 
mitted from Scotland ; songs xxix. and Ixxi. are from " A 
Choise Collection of Comic and Serious Scots Poems," 
Part III., Edinburgh, 171 1 ; compared with and corrected 
by Ramsay's " Tea-table Miscellany ;"t song xxx. is 

* A different copy of this song, with numerous and considerable 
variations, is printed in the last edition of "Love and Madness," 
(1786,) p. 17, for which the author (p. 340) **begs to thank Lady 
A. L." The alterations do not appear in every instance for the 
better, and may probably be retracted by the fair and elegant 
authoress in some future publication, which is one reason why the 
original stanzas have been preserved ; another is that they are already 
^miliar to the public. The editor, indeed, has been assured that 
the song of *' Auld Robin Gray" was well known in Scotland before 
Lady A. L. was bom — a fact which he will certainly believe upon 
the production of competent evidence. 

+ N,B, — Kamsay neither inserts nor takes any manner of notice 
of the " second part" of song xxix., which consists of no fewer than 
thirteen stanzas, but has all the appearance of being by a different 
and inferior hand. 


4 PRE FA CE. 

from "Songs and Fancies," Aberdeen, 1666; song xxxL, 
from the authoress's Works, 1751 ; song xxxii., from the 
author's Poems, 1756; song xxxiv., from the Gentlemaris 
Magazine^ vol. xi. ; song xxxix., from a single engraved 
sheet ; songs xliv., Iviii. are from Napier's collection ; 
song Ixvii. is from a manuscript copy transmitted by Mr 
Tytler; song Ixix., from the author's Poems, London, 
1 781. In class II. songs i., iii., iv., v., vii., ix., xiii., xiv., 
xviii., xix., xxvi., xxxi., xxxvi., xxxvii., xxxviii., and xl. 
are from the " Tea-table Miscellany ;" song ii., vi., xi., 
XV., xxi., xxii., xxiii., xxx., and xxxv., from the " Ancient 
and Modem Scottish Songs," &c., 1769 and 1776 ; songs 
viii. and xxxii., from Johnson's " Scots Musical Museum ;" 
songs xii., xxix., and xxxiii.,* from the Hyndford manu- 
script, (Bannatyne's collection,) in the Advocates' Lib- 
rary, Edinburgh ; songs x., xvii., xxiv., xxv., xxviii., from 
common collections of which the names have not been 
preserved ; song xx. is from a manuscript of Charles L's 
time in the British Museum, (Bib. Sloan. 1489 j) songs 
xxvii. and xxxix. are from the author's songs at the end 
of his "Fortunate Shepherdess," Aberdeen, 1768; song 
xxxiv. is from the " Songs and Fancies," Aberdeen, 1666 ; 
and song xli., from an engraved sheet In class III. 
songs i., vi., viii., xi., xv., xvi., xviii., xix., xxxiii., xxxv. are 
taken from the "Ancient and Modem Scottish Songs," 
&c., 1769 and 1776 ; songs ii and vii., from Dr Percy's 
" Reliques of Ancient English Poetry," 1775 ; song iii. is 
taken from the "Evergreen," Edinburgh, 1724; song 

* These three songs were originally printed from Lord Hailes's 
publication, which turning out, upon a collation with the MS., far 
from accurate, the leaves were cancelled. 


PREFACE, 5 

iv., from " Old Ballads/' (published by T. Evans,) Lon- 
dan, 1777; song v., from the first edition, Glasgow, 
1 755^ songs ix. and xxxvii., from the "Tea-table Mis- 
cellany ;" song X., from a manuscript copy, collated with 
a common stall print ; songs xii., xxii., xxvi., xxxi., xxxii. 
are from Johnson's "Scots Musical Museum;" song xiii. 
is from a MS. in the Harleian Library, in the Museum, 
(No. 7332;) songs xiv. and xxx.,* from common collec- 
tions; song xvii. is from a modem stall copy; songs 
xxi., xxvii., xxviii., xxix., and xxxiv. are from a collection 
of "Loyal Songs," &c., 1750; song xxiii. is from a 
manuscript copy, as dictated to the editor many years 
ago by a young gentleman, who had it from his grand- 
father ; song xxiv., from the " True Loyalist ; or. Che- 
valier's Favourite," 1779; song xxvi., from the author's 
Poems, 1749; song xxxvi., from Napier's Collection; 
song xxxviii., from the author's Poems, Edinburgh, 1786; 
and song xxxix., from the author's Works, 1762. In class 
IV. songs i.,+ iii., v., and xiii. are from the " Reliques of 

* This song is sometimes entitled ** Lewis Gordon," and said to 
go to the tune of "Tarry Woo," from which the present air may 
perhaps have been altered. 

+ This old ballad, Dr Percy tells us, is given by him from a copy 
in his folio manuscript, some breaches and defects in which, he says, 
rendered the insertion of a few supplemental stanzas necessary. 
These he hopes the reader will pardon, though he does not conde- 
scend to inform him which they are. The seeming genuineness and 
real merit of the ballad, which has all the appearance of being a 
Scotish production, has prevailed upon the editor to insert it, 
though from a designedly interpolated copy. The principal inci- 
dent in the story, whencesoever it came, was well known long 
before the publication of the "Reliques," and is, in fact, of great 
antiquity. 


6 PREFACE, 

Ancient English Poetry ;" songs ii., vi., ix., xi., and xiii., 
from the "Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs/' &c., 1769 
or 1776; song iv. is from the "Evergreen," Edinburgh, 
1724; song vii., from a stall copy; songs viii., xiv., xv., 
and xvi. are from the "Tea-table Miscellany;" song x. 
is from the first edition, Glasgow, 1755, 4to; and song 
xvii., from the author's Works, 1759. With respect to 
the few additional songs, the first is from Ramsay's 
"Tea-table Miscellany;" the seven following are from 
the fourth volume of Johnson's " Scots Musical Museum," 
(which did not appear till the work was printed off;) and 
the eighth is from " Nine Canzonets," &c. By a Lady. 

The music, which does not require, nor perhaps ad- 
mit, of a strict adherence to any particular copy, has 
been supplied by Thomson's "Orpheus Caledonius;"* 
the music for Ramsay's collection, published by himself; 
Oswald's " Caledonian Pocket Companion ;" M 'Gibbon, 
Corri, and Napier's collections of Scots tunes, and John- 
son's " Scots Musical Museum ; " by other musical pub- 
lications, and by single songs.t Where a song is either 
known or presumed to have a tune, which it has been 
found impossible to procure, blank lines are left for its 
after insertion with the pen ; and a few songs in the first 
class are indebted for original airs to the harmonious 

* It is the second edition of this work which has been made use 
of, even for the tunes contained in the first, as there is considerable 
difference in some of the sets. 

+ There is a MS. collection of (chiefly) Scotish tunes in the 
library of the Society of the Antiquaries of Scotland, made about 
fifty years ago for the laird of Macfarlane, but it seems to contain 
few tunes not to be found in Oswald's or other collections. At least* 
for a long list of desiderata, it only afforded one single air. 


PREFACE, 7 

muse of the equally eminent and amiable Shield, whose 
taste and science have been occasionally exerted in 
restoring or preserving the genuine simplicity of a cor- 
rupted melody, and of whose friendship the editor is 
happy to boast this testimony. 

Some of these tunes no doubt will be found very dif- 
ferent from, and perhaps much inferior to, the common 
or favourite sets; but it may be depended upon that 
they are immediately taken from the oldest or best 
authorities that could be met with, and consequently 
are most likely to be the genuine and original airs; so 
far, at least, as musical notation can be relied on. 

The bass part, which seems to be considered as indis- 
pensable in modern musical publications, would have 
been altogether improper in these volumes ; the Scotish 
tunes are pure melody, which is not unfrequently injured 
by the basses which have been set to them by strangers : 
the only kind of harmony known to the original com- 
posers consisting perhaps in the unisonant drone of the 
bagpipe. 

All that can be said on the glossary is that the words 
are more numerous, and the explanations less equivocal 
than in any former attempt of this nature. The reader 
may compare it, if he chooses, with that to the " Tea- 
table Miscellany," or collection of *^ Ancient Scots 
Songs," &c.; the latter of which, it may be observed, 
abounds with words not to be found in the work itself. 

It may be naturally supposed that a publication of 
this nature would have been rendered more perfect by a 
native of North Britain. Without discussing this ques- 
tion, the editor has only to observe that diligent inquiry. 


8 PREFACE. 

extensive reading, and unwearied assiduity, added to the 
strictest integrity, and most disinterested views, have 
possibly tended to lessen the disadvantages of an English 
birth ; and that he is persuaded the present collection, 
such as it is, will not suffer by comparison with anything 
of the kind hitherto published in either country. 

The following observations, by a late ingenious writer, 
already quoted, have been thought too pertinent and 
valuable to be either omitted or abridged : — 

" As the Scottish songs are the flights of genius, de- 
void of art, they bid defiance to artificial graces and 
affected cadences. A Scots song can only be sung in 
taste by a Scottish voice. To a sweet, liquid, flowing 
voice, capable of swelling a note firom the softest to the 
fullest tone, and what the Italians call a voce di petto, 
must be joined sensibility and feeling, and a perfect 
understanding of the subject and words of the song, so 
as to know the significant word on which to swell or 
soften the tone, and lay the force of the note. From a 
want of knowledge of the language, it generally happens 
that, to most of the foreign masters, our melodies at first 
must seem wild and uncouth ; for which reason, in their 
performance they generally fall short of our expectation. 
We sometimes, however, find a foreign master, who, 
with a genius for the pathetic, and a knowledge of the 
subject and words, has afforded very high pleasure in 
a Scottish song. Who could hear with insensibility, or 
without being moved in the greatest degree, Tenducci 
sing, * I *11 never leave thee ;' or * The braes of Ballen- 


PREFACE. 9 

dine;' or * Will ye go to the ewe-bughts, Marion?' sung 
by Signora Com % 

'' It is common defect in some who pretend to sing, 
to affect to smother the words, by not articulating them, 
so as we scarce can find out either the subject or lan- 
guage of their song. This is always a sign of want of 
feeling, and the mark of a bad singer; particularly of 
Scottish songs, where there is generally so intimate a 
correspondence between their air and subject Indeed, 
there can be no good vocal music without it 

" The proper accompaniment of a Scottish song is a 
plain, thin, dropping bass, on the harpischord or guitar. 
The fine breathings, those heartfelt touches which genius 
alone can express in our songs, are lost in a noisy ac- 
companiment of instruments. The full chords of a 
thorough bass should be used sparingly, and with judg- 
ment, not to overpower, but to support and raise the 
voice at proper pauses. 

''Where, with a fine voice, is joined some skill and 
execution on either of those instruments, the air, by way 
of S3rmphony, or introduction to the song, should always 
be first played over, and at the close of every stanza 
the last part of the air should be repeated, as a relief for 
the voice, which it gracefiilly sets off. In this symphonic 
part, the performer may show his taste and fancy on the 
instrument, by varying it ad libitum, 

" A Scottish song admits of no cadence ; I mean by 
this, no fancifiil or capricious descant upon the close of 
the tune. There is one embellishment, however, which 
a fine singer may easily acquire ; that is, an easy shake. 


lo PREFACE, 

This, while the organs are flexible in a young voice, 
may, with practice, be easily attained. 

" A Scottish song, thus performed, is among the 
highest of entertainments to a musical genius. But is 
this genius to be acquired either in the performer or 
hearer 1 It cannot Genius in music, as in poetry, is 
the gift of heaven. It is bom with us ; it is not to be 
learned. 

" An artist on the violin may display the magic of his 
fingers, in running from the top to the bottom of the 
finger-board in various intricate caprkcioSy which, at most, 
will only excite surprise; while. a very middling per- 
former, of taste and feeling, in a subject that admits of 
the pathos, will touch the heart in its finest sensations. 
The finest of the Italian composers, and many of their 
singers, possess this to an amazing degree. The opera 
airs of these great masters, Pergolese, Jomelli, Galuppi, 
Perez, and many others of the present age, are astonish- 
ingly pathetic and moving. Genius, however, and feel- 
ing are not confined to country or climate. A maid, at 
her spinning-wheel, who knew not a note in music, with 
a sweet voice, and the force of a native genius, has oft 
drawn tears to my eyes. That gift of heaven, in short, 
is not to be defined : it can only be felt." * 

* ** Dissertation on the Scottish Music," by William Tytler, Esq. 


A HISTORICAL ESSAY ON 
SCOTISH SONG. 


I^HE most ancient inhabitants of the nonh 
parts of Britain, now called Scotland, of 
whom there is any account, were the 
Caledonians ; a people of the same race 
with the Britons, or inhabitants of the south parts ; chil- 
dren, in a word, of that immense family of Celts, which, 
pouring out of Gaul, the country, it is supposed, of their 
original settlement, seems at one time not only to have 
.covered great part of Europe, but even to have overrun 
the fertile and civilised provinces of Asia.* Their lan- 
* A histoiy of the Celts by a person of learning and induetr? is 
much wanted. All the French writers who have hitherto attempted 
such a woclt (viz., Peiron, Peloutier, &c,) have confounded them 
with the Goths or Germans; perfectly distinct people. A good 
foundation, however, has been laid by Schoepflin in his "Vindicia: 
Celtic*, Aigen," (1754. 410-! Thougli the moat ancient historians 
know of no inhabitants in Gaul before tbe Cells, nor of any Celts 
but such as inhabited or issued from that country, in which sense 
only they are called aborigines, it is neveitheiess sofBdently pro- 


1 2 HISTORICAL ESS A Y ON 

guage, varied by dialect, and corrupted by the influx of 
foreign words, is still spoken in Wales, in Ireland, in 
the Highlands or mountainous parts of Scotland, in the 
Hebrides or Western Isles, in the Isle of Man, in Ar- 
raorica or Basse-Bretagne, and among the Waldenses, a 
little nation in the Alps; and was, two or three cen- 
turies ago, the vulgar speech of Cornwall and Galloway, 
where, if yet extinct, it continued to be known within 
the memory of persons now living. Great part of the 
country, however, was, about the time of its invasion by 
the Romans, under Agricola, inhabited by a people 
called Picts, or Pehts, who are by some thought to have 
come from Scandinavia, (the Scythia of Bede,) and to 
have driven the more ancient inhabitants out of those 
parts (probably all along the north and east coasts) in 
which they thought fit to settle; but, let them come 
from where they would, they were still a Celtic colony, 
and spoke a dialect at least of the language of the 
original inhabitants ;* with whom it is highly probable 

bable that other countries had been peopled by the same race. 
History, in this case, is a child of yesterday. 

• For this fact we have the express testimony of Bede, who 
observes that a town in Scotland, at the east end of the Picts' wall,^ 
was in their language called Peanfabel; and Nennius adds that its 
name in the British tongue was Pengaaul; as nearly the same word 
as the slightest difference of dialect or corruption of orthography 
will allow, each meaning the head of the wall ; from petty head, and 
z/a//»^i, wall; which latter word both Picts and Britons had adopted 
from the Romans, either from having no synonymous word in their 
own language, or none at least applicable to a fortification of that 
nature. The Saxons, by adding a usual termination, called it Pen- 
neUun — ^i.e., Pen-vael-iun, the town at the head of the wall. It 
appears from the same Nennius that the Scots (or Irish) called this 
place Cenail — Le., Cean-val — a name of the same signification, and 


SCOTISff SONG. 13 

they were, in the course of time, indistinguishably 
blended. 

About the middle of the third century a third Celtic 

which it has preserved, with a very slight variance, to this day. It 
is the village of Kinnel, about two miles from Aberconi. (See 
Imies's '^ Critical E^ay on the Ancient Inhabitants of Scotland,*' 
i., 23.) It is needless to add that pen and cean mean head in the 
Welsh and Irish languages at this moment This point is further 
confirmed by the names of the Pictish sovereigns, which have no 
resemblance to those in any Gothic list, and of which some are 
manifestly Celtic, as Ungust, Elpin, Canul, Kenneth, Uven, &c. 
&c. The names, not only of mountains and rivers, but what is 
much more to the purpose, of cities, towns, villages, castles, and 
houses, are, with a very few exceptions, universally Celtic. (See 
Camden's ** Britannia," cxii., (1695;) Innes's ** Essay," i., 72, &c., 
147 ; Macpherson's " Critical Dissertations on the Ancient Caledo- 
nians," p. 55; the table of parishes in Keith's "Catalogue of the 
Bishops," and the large "Map of Scotland," /d^jj/Vwy see also 
Buchanan's " History of Scotland," vol. i., p. 55, 80, (English 
translation;) and Malcolme's " Essay on the Antiquities of Great 
Britain and Ireland, (a Letter to Archimedes the Old Caledonian,") 
p. 9.) No other vestige of the Pictish language is to be met with ; 
for though Mr Evans suspects the **Gododin" of Aneurin, a cele- 
brated bard of the sixth century, to be in that tongue, ("Dis. de 
Bardis," p. 67,) and Mr Lhwyd had before expressed the same sus- 
picion with respect to a MS. in the public library at Cambridge, 
(see Rowland's **Mona Antiqua Restaurata," p. 311; "Archseo- 
logia," p. 226,) it seems much more likely that both these articles 
are in the dialect of the Cumbrian, or Strat Cluyd Britons, accord- 
ing to Mr Lhwyd's other conjecture as to the latter. This very 
learned and judicious person, who was peculiarly well skilled in the 
different dialects of the Celtic tongue, agreed with Camden and 
others that the Picts were of that race. (See the translation of his 
Welsh Preface in Bishop Nicolson's " Irish Historical Library," 
p. 104. 1 736.) That the men of Galloway were Picts there is indis- 
putable evidence. Ralph, Archbishop of Canterbury, in a letter to 
Pope Calixtus about the year 11 22, calls the Bishop of Galloway 
the Bishop of the Picts. Joceline the monk, in his life of St 


14 HISTORICAL ESS A V ON 

colony arrived in Caledonia, or Pictland: this was a 
body of Scots, or Irish, (Scotia and Hibemi^ bdng^ at 
that period synon3rmous,) who landed in Argyle, and 

Mungo, alias Kentigem, calls it the country of the Picts, (Innes's 
" Essay," i., i6i ;) and Richard, Prior of Hexham, in his account of 
the Battle of the Standard, 1 138, mentions the Picts no less than 
nine different times, calling them ** Picti qui vulgo Galweyenses 
dicuntur," (Innes's " X. Scrip." i., 158.) These Galloway men con- 
tinued to speak the Celtic language till within the present century, 
which they would scarcely have done had it not been their primi- 
tive tongue. (See Irvine's "Historiae Scotiae Nomenclatura," p. 247; 
Innes's "Essay," i., 39.) This province was formerly of great ex- 
tent, including, beside the country now so called, Carrick, Kyle, 
Cunningham, and Renfrew, and perhaps a part of Clydesdale, 
(Innes, i., 160.) It had its own feudal princes and pecidiar cus- 
toms, and its inhabitants are usually distinguished, in ancient char- 
ters of the Scotish kings, from their other subjects by the titles of 
GalwejenseSf or Galovidienses, (See Innes's ** Essay," i. 38, 162, 164; 
Crawfurd's " History of the Stewarts," 2.) These Picts, or Galwe- 
gians, claimed the right of making the onset at the Battle of the 
Standard as their due by ancient custom. They were a turbulent, 
rebellious, and barbarous people, and the "wild Scot of Galloway" 
became proverbial. (See Ross's *•' Fortunate Shepherdess," (a curious 
poem,) p. 51, 87.) The old inhabitants of the province of Murray 
seem also to have been entirely Picts, being so very unruly as to 
oblige one of the Scotish kings to disperse them in other parts, 
and plant the country with more tractable subjects, about the year 
1 160, (Innes, i. 159.) The vulgar language of this province is called 
by its historian, Mr Shaw, "the broad Scottish or Buchan dialect, 
which," says he, "is manifestly the Pictish." That the Celtic, 
however, has been manifestly spoken throughout this province, as 
well as in Buchan and other parts of the east coast, is clear from 
the peculiar pronunciation of the present inhabitants, who, like the 
Highlanders, use / instead of wk, as fa^ fan^ fat, for wko, when, 
whatf and the like — an infallible symptom of a Celtic foundation. 
The Gaelic, indeed, is now spoken in Aberdeenshire, which is on 
the same coast, (Macpherson's ** Dissertations," p. 62.) The Buchan 
dialect, therefore, as extant in a few poems which have been pub- 


SCOTISH SONG. 15 

driving the inhabitants out of that and the adjacent 
country, held possession thereof for some time. But 
having been expelled, it would seem, by the north 
Britons or Picts, they returned with great force, about 
the year 503, and founded a distinct kingdom, which 

lished therein, difiers little from the Lowland Scotish, and neither 
of them so much from common English, as the Lancashire or Ex- 
moor dialect will be found to do; whereas, had the Pictish been 
Gothic, and the Buchan the Pictish, the difference between that 
dialect and the English would at this moment have been as wide 
and radical at least as that which exists between the languages of 
England and Denmark or Sweden.* Mr Pinkerton, in his very 
interesting "Enquiry into the History of Scotland," 1789, has been 
pleased not only to contend that the Picts were Goths, but to be 
very lavish in his abuse upon those who have dared to think other- 
wise. A complete refutation of this hypothesis would require a 
large volume, and must be expected from some able hand; but no 
one> in the meantime, can refrain from lamenting that a discussion 
so curious and important, and in the course of which the inquirer 
has evinced uncommon industry and singular acuteness, should be 
degraded by groimdless assertion, absurd prejudice, scurrilous lan- 
guage, and diabolical malignity.f Mr Pinkerton's only argument, 
setting aside his fulminations of fool^ blockhead^ &c., which do not, 
with submission, appear entitled to that appellation, is, that because 
the Picts came from Scandinavia they were consequently Scythians, 
which by no means follows, since the "Celtic savages" (as he is 
pleased to call them) had peopled all that country long before his 
favourite Goths arrived in it. 


* "For the wonderful affinity between the Swedish and Engli^, see Mr 
Coxe's 'Travels.' Had Sweden been where Ireland is, the Swedish would 
also have been called English.*' !!!('* Essay on the Origin of Scotish Poetry/' 
prefixed to " Ancient Scotish Songs," p. Ixx. 1786. 

t See his treatment of the Celts, wild Irish, and Highlanders, passim. To 
suppose a particular people, who, in genius and virtue, are inferior to none upon 
earth, intended by nature ''as a medial race between beasts and men," and 
seriously propose methods " to get rid of the breed," argues a being of " a 
medial race" between devil and man. The author has been thought to be pos- 
sessed with an incubus ; he would seem also to have been engendered by one. 


1 6 HISTORICAL ESSAY ON 

lasted till the year 843, when, either by victory or de- 
scent, by force or fraud, their king, Kenneth III., 
sumamed, from his father, MacAlpin, acquired the 
dominion of the Picts; who, however, continued, at 
least in Galloway, a distinct people till about the middle 
of the eleventh century, after which they are no longer 
mentioned by any historian, or in any public document, 
or other writing; their name and language so entirely 
disappearing, as if, according to Innes, the whole race 
had been cut off like a man that leaves no posterity : 
which gave occasion to an ancient author to say that, 
even in his time, what was recorded of them seemed a 
mere fable;* and has led others to imagine that every 
soul of them had been extirpated by the triumphant 
Scots. The country, then called Albany, in about a 
century and a half from this event, obtained the name 
of Scotland, by which it has been ever since known ; 
but it is to be considered that (except in the northern- 
most parts, where the Danes or Norwegians had gained 
some footing, and, perhaps, in the Merse and Lothians, 
which were for some time in the possession of the Eng- 
lish Saxons) the speech and manners of the inhabitants 
were universally Celtic, or, in a word, nearly those of 
the Highlanders, as they are called, at this day. From 
the period of this union, the Pictish language seems to 
have yielded to the courtly ascendancy of the Gaelic, 
being no longer noticed, at least, as a distinct idiom, 
and the transition, in fact, from one tongue to the other 


• H. Huntingdon. ** Scrip, post Eedam," p. 299. 1596, Innes, 
i. 147. See also the preceding note. 


SCOTISff SONG, 17 

being the more easy and natural from the assimilation 
or affinity of the two dialects.* 

Malcolm III., sumamed Cean-more^ or great-head, 
ascended the throne of Scotland in 1056. This monarch, 
during the usurpation of his predecessor Macbeth, re- 
sided for many years at the court of Edward, called the 
Confessor, king of England, by whom he was assisted 
in his attempt to recover the crown. He married an 
English princess; and preferring, it is probable, the 
more polished manners and refined language of the 
Anglo-Saxons to those of his own countrymen, gave 
such encouragement to their introduction, that it is to 
this period and these events we are to attribute the 
rapid decline and gradual abolition of the Gaelic or old 
Scotish as the national language ; for cultivated it does 
not appear and is not supposed to have been at any 
period whatever.t What Malcolm thus began, his suc- 

* Innes, ** Essay," i. 147. The Irish language would have the 
greater superiority over the Pictish from its being written, which we 
have no reason to think was the case with the latter. 

i* Many other circumstances concurred in producing this great 
change. The Saxon nobility found a hospitable reception at the 
court of Malcolm in 1066, (*' Annals of Scotland/' by Lord Hailes, 
i. II;) while the piety of his consort, who had great influence over 
him, would be a sufficient inducement for the monks and priests, a 
species of vermin with which England at that time swarmed, to 
solicit her patronage and protection. Numbers, likewise, of the 
Northumbrian Saxons sought an asylum in Scotland on their country 
being ravaged by 'the Norman tyrant in 1080, (S. Dunelm. 199. 
^'Annals," i. ii.) Besides, Malcolm himself, in an irruption he 
made into England in 1070, brought home such a number of cap- 
tives that his land was almost filled with English servants, not a 
village or hovel, according to the monk of Durham, being for many 
years to be found without them, ("Annals," i. 10.) William of 

B 


i8 HISTORICAL ESSA V ON 

cessors completed; all till Alexander II. receiving an 
English education, learning the English language, and 
marrying English princesses. 

Newborough, too, who wrote about the year 1200, mentions that 
there was in the army of William King of Scots (11 73) a great 
number of English, for, says he, the towns and boroughs of the 
Scotish kingdom are known to be inhabited by the English. The 
Scots, he adds, taking the occasion of the king's absence, revealed 
their innate hatred against them, which they had dissembled for 
fear of the king, and slew as many as they could find, those who 
could escape flying to the royal castles, (Pinkerton's " Enquiry," i. 
345.) This author seems to have magnified some accidental quarrel 
between the Scots and English settlers into a general massacre. 
'* Our eldaris," says the translator of Boethius, ** (quhilkis dwelt 
continewally merchand with the realme of Ingland) lemit the 
Saxonis toung be frequent ieoperdeis and chance of battall sustenit 
mony zeris aganis thajnn." A little lower he adds — ** Bechance of 
sindry seasonis specially about the tyme of King Malcolme Can- 
more, al thingis began to change. For quhen oure nychtbouris the 
Brytonis war maid effeminat be lang sleuth, and doung out of 
Britane be the Saxonis in Walis, we began to haue alliance be 
proximite of Romanis with Inglysmen, specially efter the extermi- 
nioun of Pichtis, and be frequent and dayly cumpany of thaym we 
began to rute thair langage, and superflew maneris in oure brestis," 
(** History of Scotland," sig. D, ii. b. Edin., 1541.) To these facts 
must be added the actual superiority of the Saxon language. The 
Scots at this period were so excessively illiterate, that even their 
sovereign himself, as we learn from one who knew him, was unable 
to read, ("Annals,'* i. 13.) The Saxons, on the contrary, were a 
very literary people, and cultivated their native tongue with equal 
assiduity and success. The churchmen and other refugees would of 
course carry a number of books into Scotland, and, being familiar 
with the modes of education, could teach the natives Saxon with 
much greater facility and expedition than they could possibly acquire 
the Gaelic. Had the former been as little of a written or cultivated 
language as the latter, it would never have withstood the shock of 
the invasion, authority, arts, and influence of the Norman conquerors, 
and French would at this moment have been the mother tongue of 


SC07ISH SONG. 19 

That the Gaelic language was spoken, or at least well 
understood, at the court of Malcolm III., is a fact not 
to be disputed ; since, to lay no stress on his own nick- 
name, and the epithet of bane^ or ^ur, bestowed on bis 
brother Donald, we are most fortunately in possession 
of a duan^ or poem, in that tongue, which is supposed 
to have been written by the royal bard, or poet-laureate 
of the time, and most probably soon after his acces- 
sion. In this invaluable curiosity the poet addresses his 
coimtrymen by the title of Albans, and enumerates the 
ancestors of the reigning monarch up to Albanus, the 
first (imaginary) possessor. " Ye knowing men of Alba," 
says he, " ye comely hosts of the yellow tresses,* know 
ye the first 'possessors' of that country 1 Albanus of 
the numerous combatants was the first possessor. He 
was the son of Isiacon ; from him is derived the name 
of Alba," &C. " Malcolm, son of Donchad," he con- 
cludes, ''is the present king. God alone knows how 
long he is to reign. To the present time, of the son of 

an Englishman : which, to speak without prejudice, would, so far 
from being a subject for lamentation, have made some amends for 
the chicane, barbarism, and tyranny they have introduced into a free 
and simple constitution. See more on the subject of the introduc- 
tion of the English language into Scotland in Sir John Sinclair's 
«' Observations on the Scottish Dialect," p. 8, 1782, and the "Trans- 
actions of the Society ,of the Antiquaries of Scotland," pp. 168, 
408. And thus, as Mr Pinkerton observes, '' has the vulgar error 
crept in, that the Scotish is derived from the Anglo-Saxon, or that 
it is in fact merely a dialect of the English imported into that 
country." 

* How is this reoondleable with Mr Pinkerton's assertion, that 
'^ flaxen, yelUnOy and red hair," are the distinguishing features of the 
Goths, as " klack curled hair and brown £M:es are of the Celts?'' 
(" Enquiry," i. 26, 34a) 


20 HISTORICAL ESSA V ON 

Donchad the lively-faced, fifty-two kings of the race of 
Erk have reigned over Alba." * 

It is not, indeed, probable that the English language 
became all at once, or even during the reign of Mal- 
colm, who died in 1093, the common speech of the 
people \ but the innovations then made were productive 
of such consequences, that in the time of Alexander 
III., A.D. 1249, the language of the two countries dif- 
fered, if at all, only in dialect \ the Gaelic in one, like 
the Welsh and Cornish in the other, being confined to 
the remote and mountainous parts, of which the in- 
habitants were less civilised or commercial, t That the 
old Scotish was still understood, though it had ceased 
to be spoken at court, appears fi*om a curious circum- 
stance. At the coronation of this monarch, an ancient 
Highlander saluted him in that language, with his pedi- 
gree or genealogy carried back to a remote period. J 

* See it at full length, the original and two translations, in Pink- 
erton's "Enquiry," ii. p. 321, and an account of it, p. 106. "It 
appears," says this writer, in a different publication, from Turgors 
" Life of St Margaret," *' that the king was interpreter between her 
and the Scotish ecclesiastics. If they spoke Gaelic," he adds, " the 
king would not have understood them, for he had been seventeen 
years in England, where he had only spoken French, and Saxon to 
servants.*' Mr P. perhaps resided in the English court at tha^ 
period. He, however, with uncommon candour, allows that " this 
argument is not strong,'* which will doubtless preveut every other 
person from pronouncing it ridiculous and absurd. 

f These, however, are presumed to have been, in Scotland, if not 
a considerable majority of the people, at least possessors of the 
greatest part of the kingdom, for many centuries after this event. 
See Stillingfleet's " Origines Britannicse," p. 252. 1685. 

X See Fordun's " Scotichronicon," p. 759, (Heame's edition;) 
Major's " Historia Britanniae," p. 151, (1740;) "In Lingua Hiber- 


SCOTISH SONG. 2t 

An investigation of the poetry and song of the an- 
cient inhabitants of this country, whether Picts or Scots, 

nica," says the latter, *'et non nostra Scotomm Meridionalium 
Anglicana." The expression of Foniim*s continuator is merely 
'^ hiis Scoticis verbis." The vulgar language of the Lowland Scots 
was always called English by their own writers till a late period. 
Thus, in the " Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedie," (about 1500,) in 
the ** Ever-Green," voL ii. p. 53, the former says — 

'* I half on me a pair of Lowtfaiane hipps 
Sail fairer Inglis mak, and mair perfet 
Than thou can blebber with thy Carrick lipps." 

the Erse, or Irish, being the dialect of that province. So also the 
same Dunbar, in his " Golden Terge" — 

*' O reverend Chawser, rose of rethouris all. 
Was thou not of our Inglis all the licht ? *' 

Again, in Sir David Lyndsa/s " Prologue to the Complaint of the 

Papingo " — 

" Alace for ane, quhiDc lamp was in this land, 
Of eloquence the flowand balmy strand, 
And in our Inglis rhetorick the rose. 
As of rubeis the carbunckle bin chose. 
And as Phebus dois Cynthia precell. 
So Gawin Douglas bishop of Dunkelli" &c. 

Yet Douglas is certainly the most Scotified of all the Scotish poets 
extant 

Again, in the same author's " Satyre of the Thrie Estaits : " 

" Qui non laborat non manducei. 
This is in Inglische toung or leit : 
Quha labouris nocht he sail not eit" 

Again, in the '*Act for allowing the Bible in the Vulgar 
Tongue," p. 154 — ''It is statute and ordanit, that it sail be lefull 
to our savirane Ladjris lieges to haif the haly writ, to wit, the New 
Testament and the Auld, in the vulgar toung in Inglis or Scottis, of 
ane gude and true translatioun," &c. Here Scottis^ as in the quota- 
tion from Fordun, must necessarily mean Irish. Mr John Pinker- 
ton, however, has been pleased to assert that " the Scotish .... 
is mentioned by all its early writers as a different language from the 
Southern or English," an assertion which, like most others of that 
ingenious gentleman, wants nothing but truth to support it. 


22 HISTORICAL ESSA V ON 

previous to the introduction and establishment of the 
English language, would no doubt be curious and in* 
teresting; but, unfortunately, no remains or vestiges 
thereof are now to be met with. Many pieces of Erse * 
or Gaelic poetry have, it is true, been lately collected 
and published, which are said to have great merit, but 
cannot well be of the antiquity they pretend to ; every 
one at least is, or ought to be, now satisfied that the 
epic poems of Ossian, who is supposed to have existed 
in the fifth century, as professedly translated by Mr 
Macpherson, are chiefly, if not wholly, of his own in- 
vention.t The song, therefore, which is meant to be 

* The word Erse is used to mean the Irish language, as written 
or spoken in the Highlands and Isles of Scotland, (Irish, Brisk, 
Ersh, Erse.) The natives of those parts distinguish their dialect by 
the name of Gaelic- Albanich from that of the Irish, which they call 
Graelic-Erinach. The Lowland Scots having been taught, as above 
related, to speak English, began to look npon their countrjrmen 
who still adhered to the ancient language as Irish, a name given 
them by Barbour in his "Life of Bruce," written 1375, and con- 
tinued till at least ' the middle of the sixteenth century. See the 
** Fly ting of Dunbar and Kennedie," in the " Ever-Green," vol. ii. 
pp. 53, 66; and the ** Letters and Negociations of Sir Ralph Sad- 
ler," pp. 263,334. Edinburgh, 172a 

f The late Dr Samuel Johnson always strenuously denied their 
authenticity, of which, however, had his resolution or corporal 
strength been different from what it was, the author or editor would 
have effectually convinced him by a well-known argument — ^the 
ultima ratio of a convicted impostor. The only translations of 
Erse poetry, unattended with circumstances of fraud or suspicion, 
appeared some years ago in the GentkmafCs Magaziney and were 
afterward privately reprinted by the ingenious and industrious col- 
lector. Several volumes of songs and poems in that language have, 

it is true, been published between these forty or fifty years,* but not 

- ' - I — ~ ' ■ ■ I II- ■ - - 

Ais-eiridh na sean ch^noin Albaaasuch,*' &c., le Ala&tair Mac-Dhonuill, 


« (( 


SCOTISH SONG. 23 

the subject of this essay is that of the natives of Scot- 
land speaking and writing the English language. 

being accompanied with an English version, (which, however, 
would, if dose and fiuthiiil, be infinitely more curious, and even 
valuable, than the pretended works of Ossian in the Klopstockian 
bombast of Mr Macpherson,) must remain confined to the High- 
land gentry, for whom they are intended, as no others, it is believed, 
have been yet induced to study the originals. See also an interest- 
ing paper by Dr Young, upon the subject of Ossian, in the "Trans- 
actions of the Royal Irish Academy," voL l Many pamphlets, 
and indeed books, were published in the course of the controversy 
respecting the genuineness of Ossian, by Dr Blair,- Dufi^ Smith, 
Shaw, Clarke, Macnicol, and others ; but scarcely any of them 
seems worthy of being consulted or referred to for the sake of infor- 
mation. Dr Blair is well known as an elegant and masterly writer; 
but it is believed he would find it much easier to write a hundred 
critical dissertations upon the authenticity of these poems, than to 
prove it in half a dozen pages by argument and evidence, as the 
literati of every other country would, in a similar case, have thought 
it necessary to do. It seems both unreasonable and arrogant that 
the Scotish writers alone should expect all the world to be satisfied 
with their naked assertions upon a subject in which interest or par- 
tiality must naturally render their testimony 8usi)ected; but, indeed, 
as not one single Erse manuscript, either ancient or modem, (and 
Mr Macpherson pretended to have several,) has been yet deposited 
in any public library, or even seen by any person of veracity, the 
question seems completely decided, though not much to the honour 
of that gentleman, his advocates, or adherents. An inquiry, how- 
ever, into the history of Gaelic song by a person of integrity and 
abilities, possessed of a competent knowledge of the language, who 
should prefer fact to opinion, authority to conjecture, and fidelity tp 
fine writing, would be unquestionably curious and interesting, and 
is anxiously desired, the Celtic nations having been ever celebrated 
for their poetical genius, a character which their present Irish and 

xamo, Duneidiunn, 1751. *' Grain Ghaidhealach/' le Donchadh Mac-an-t-saior» 
x2ino, Dun-eidin, 1768. " Comb-chruisnea-adh orinnaigh Gaidkealacb,** le 
Roanuill Macdomhnuill, 8vo, Duneidiuan, 1776. "Sean dain, agus orain 
Ghaidhealach/' 8vo, Peart, 1786^ These, beside the " Sean dana,' published, 
under very suspicious circumstances, by Dr Smith, in 1787, are all, it is believed, 
that have hitherto appeared. 


24 HISTORICAL ESSA Y ON 

The earliest specimen of Scotish song now remaining 
is fortunately preserved in the rhyming chronicle of An- 
drew Winton, prior of Lochleven, written, as is generally 
supposed, about the year 1420; where, speaking of the 
great plenty of com and victual in the time of king 
Alexander III., who was killed by a fall from his horse 
in 1285-6, he says, 

" This falyhyd fra he deyd suddanly, 
This sang wes made o£f hym for thi. 
Quhen Alysander oure kynge wes dede. 

That Scotland led in luwe and le. 
Away wes sons off ale and bredcf 

Off wyne and wax, off gamyn and gle ; 
Oure gold wes changyd into lede : 

Cryst, borne into vergyynyte, 
Succour Scotland, and remede 

That stad in his perplexite I ** * 

Highland descendants, however enslaved, oppressed, vilified, and 
degraded, have by no means forfeited. *' It is no uncommon thing," 
says the author of some MS. letters on the Celtic language, and 
** An Enquiry into the Original, &c., of the Ancient Scots," written 
in 1756, (he means in Ireland, or the Highlands,) '* to hear a shep- 
herd following his flocks, or a maid with a ' pail ' of milk on her 
head, diverting themselves with songs of their own composition, 
worthy of being known to the world both for the purity of the dic- 
tion, the sublimity of their images, and all the most essential graces 
of composition." The writer, whose name is Stone, was school- 
master of Dunkeld, and published some translations from the Gaelic, 
which (like many other translators from that language) he appears 
from this MS. not to have understood. Mr Buchanan, in his lately 
published "Travels in the Western Hebrides," p. 80, is still more 
elaborate and decided in their praise. Even the simple sequestered 
natives of St Kilda, according to Martin, " have a genius for poesie, 
and compose entertaining verses and songs in their own language, 
[the Irish,] which is very emphatical." See also Macaula/s " His- 
tory," p. 216; Buchanan's "Travels,** p. 139. 

• MSS. Reg. 17, DXX. No direct evidence, it is presumed, can 
be adduced of the vulgar language of the south of Scotland anterior 
to the above date. 


SCOTISH SONG. 2^ 

The next is one of four lines upon the siege of Ber- 
wick by the English monarch in the year 1296. " King 
Edward," says an ancient chronicler, " went him toward 
Berwyke, and biseged the toune, and tho that were with 
yn manlich hem defended, and sett on fire and brent 
two of the king Edwarde shippes, and seide in dispite 
and reprefe of him : 

* Wend kyng Edewarde, with his lange shankes. 
To have gete Berwyke, al our unthankes? 
Gas pikes hym, 
And after gas dikes hym/'' 

This pleasantry, however, as hath been elsewhere ob- 
served, was in the present instance somewhat ill-timed ; 
for as soon as the king heard of it, he assaulted the town 
with such fury, that he carried it with the loss of 25,700 
Scots* 

That many songs of this age have formerly existed 
there can be no doubt. The heroic Wallace was the 
subject of several ; some of which are expressly referred 

• MSS. Har., 226, 7333. See also P. Langtoft, p. 272; 
*' Ancient Songs," p. xxxi., 1790. The number seems prodigiously 
exaggerated. Winton makes it only 7500 ; though Boece (or his 
translator) observes, "that ane mil mycht haif gane two days 
ithandlie be stremis of blude." In order to show the affinity, or 
rather identity, of the two languages at this period, it may not be 
impertinent to transcribe the sarcasm which some Englishman made 
a few weeks after "in reprefe of the Scottes," on their losing the 
battle of Dunbar — 

" Thus scaterand Scottis 
Hold I for sootis, 

Of wrenchis unware ; 
Eerly in a momyng^ 
In an euyl tyding, 

Went ze froo Dunnbarre." 


26 HISTORICAL ESSAY ON 

to, as evidence of an historical fact, in certain copies of 
Fordun's " Scotichronicon." * 

The battle of Bannockbum, which proved so fatal to 
English ambition, in 13 14, is well known. "On this 
occasion," says Fabyan, "the Scottes enflamed with 
pride, in derysyon of the Englyshraen, made this r3rme 
as foloweth : 

' Maydens of Englande, sore may ye mome. 
For your lemmans ye have lost at Bannockysborne, 
' With heuc a lowc. 

What I weneth the king of England 
So soone to have wone Scotlande ? 
Wyth rumbylowe.'*' 

" Thys songe," he adds, " was after many daies song in 
daunces in the carols of the maidens and m3mstrelles of 
Scotland, to the reprofe and disda)me of Englyshemen, 
with dyuers others, whych," says he, " I ouerpasse." t 

* See Goodall's edition, voL ii. p. 176. The editor has heard it 
gravely asserted in Edinburgh, that a foolish song, beginning—- 

" Go, go, go, go to Berwick, Johny, 
Thou shall have the horse, and I '11 have the poney," 

was actually made upon one of this hero's marauding expeditions, 
and that the person thus addressed was no other than his fidus 
Achates^ Sir John Graham. 

t These lines, certainly not inelegant for the time, nor improper 
for the occasion, occur, with some trifling variance, in MS. Har., 
226, and in Caxton*s ** Chronicle," c. 58. His words are — " Wher- 
for the Scottes said in reproue and despite of Kyng Edward, for as 
moche as he loued to gone by water, and also for he was disconfited 
at Bannokesbome, therfor maydens maden a song therof in that 
contre of Kyng Edward of Englond, and in this maner they songe 
— * Maydens of England, sare may ye mome, for tizt haue ye lost 
your lammans at Bannockesbome, with heualoglu What wende 
the Kyng of England to haue get Scotland with rombilong.' " The 
MS. reads — 

'* For tynt ze lost your lemmanes at Baimockesbonie, with heilfelows : " 


SCOTISH SONG. 27 

In 13 — , Sir John de Soulis, the Scotish governor of 
Eskdale, with fifty men, defeated a body of three hun- 
dred, conunanded by Sir Andrew Hercla, who was taken 
prisoner: and the rhyming historian Barbour forbears to 
"reherss the maner" of the victory, as, he says, 

" Qnhasa 1»^s thai may her 
Young women, qtihen thai will play, 
Syng it amang thaim iOc day.** * 

In the year 1328, being the second of our Edward 
III., David, son of Robert de Bnis, king of Scots, mar- 
ried Jane of the Tower, or Joan of Towers, sister to 
King Edward; which marriage, confirming the peace 
lately made between the two nations, and which the 
English considered as inadequate and dishonoumble, 
"it was not long," says Fabyan, " or the Scottes, in dis- 
pite of the English menne, called her Jane Make-peace ; 
and also to their more derision, thei made diuerse trufies, 
roundes, and songes, of the whiche,'' he adds, '^ one is 
specially remembred as foloweth : 

' Ix)ng beerdis hartles, 
Paynted hoodes wytles. 
Gay cottes graoeles, 
Maketh Englande thryftdess.' 

Which ryme, as saieth Guydo, was made by the Scottes, 
princypally for the deformyte of clothyng that at those 
dayes was vsed by Englysshemenne." t 

so that tynt was probably the original word, and lost originally a 
gloss. Heve and how rombelcw appears to have been formerly the 
ordinary burthen of a ballad, as Derrydown is at present. See 
Skelton's Works, p. 67, 1736; Percy's "Reliques," voL ii p. 
49; "Ancient Songs," p. li., 1790; Johnson's "Scots Mosical 
Museum." 

• " The Bruce," vol. iii, p. 49. 

t Master Caxton gives a somewhat different account of the mat- 


28 HISTORICAL ESSA Y ON 

Hume of Godscroft relates that " the lord of Liddes- 
dale^ being at his pastime, hunting in Attrick forest, is 
beset by William, Earl of Douglas, and such as hee had 
ordained for that purpose, and there assailed, wounded, 
and slain beside Galsewood, in the yeare 1353, upon a 
jealousie that the earle had conceived of him with his 
lady, as the report goeth j for so sayes the old song : 

' The countesse of Douglas out of her boure she came. 
And loudly there that she did call ; 
It is for the lord of Liddesdale 
That I let all these teares downefalL'" 

"The song," continues he, "also declareth how shee 
did write her love letters to Liddisdale to disswade him 
from that hunting. It tells likewise the manner of the 
taking of his men, and his owne killing at Galsewood, 
and how hee was carried the first night to Lindin kirk, 
a mile from Selkirk, and was buried within the abbacie 
of Melrosse." * This song, if extant, must be a prodi- 
gious curiosity. 

ter; for, says he, "at Estren next after his c'oronacion the kyng 
ordeyned an huge hoste for to fight agens the Scottes, .... and 
the Scottes came * to York * to the kyng, for to make pees and 
accord ; but the accordement betwene hem last but a litell tyme, 
and at that time the Englishmen were clothed all in cotes and hodes 
peynted with lettres and with flours full semely, with long berdes, 
and therefor the Scottes made a bile that was fastened upon the 
chirch-dores of Seint Petre toward Stangate, and thus said the 
scripture in despite of Englishmen — 

* Long herde hertheles, peynted hood wytlees. 
Gay cote graceles, makes Englond thriftlees/ ** 

These lines, it must be confessed, have not much the appearance of 
a rounde or songe; and as to the nature of a truffe^ we are left alto- 
gether in the dark. See also Fuller's " Worthies," p. 86. 
* " History of the Houses of Douglas and Angus," p. 77, Edin., 


SCOTISH SONG. 29 

King James L, who was bom in 1393, and became 
entitled to the crown on the death of his father, Robert 
III., in 1405, but having been taken at sea a few months 
before, on his passage for France, and most unjustly 
detained a prisoner in England for nineteen years, was 
not restored till 1424, is celebrated by Major as an 
excellent composer of Scotish songs, a number of his 
performances being still popular in the time of that his- 
torian. He particularly mentions an artificial song be- 
ginning ^'Yas sen," &c., and also that pleasant and 
artificial song "At Beltayn," which some persons, he 
says, at Dalkeith and Gargeil, had attempted to parody, 
by reason of his having been shut up in a tower or 
chamber in which a woman resided with her mother.* 
The latter of these poems, for it does not seem to 
answer the definition of a song, is fortunately preserved, 
and hath been lately given to the public, t This accom- 
plished prince was murdered in 1437. 

1644. Liddesdale was a Douglas, and natural son to the good Sir 
James, who, in his way to Jerusalem with Bruce's heart, A.D. 1330, 
was killed in Spain by the Moors. He was commonly called " The 
Flower of Chivalry." Lord Hailes ("Annals," vol. iL p. 161, 
ei seq*) calls him only the " KLnight of Liddesdale ; " has " Galvorde" 
instead of '' Galsewood ;" mentions the assassination as being done 
in revenge for the murder of Alexander Ramsay and David Berke- 
ley ; and says that Liddesdale led a widow, who afterwards married 
Hugh, brother of William, Lord Dacre. 

* ** De Gestis Scotorum," 1. vi. 

t See " Select Scotish Ballads," vol u., and " The Caledonian 
Muse," (when published.) There is likewise reason to suspect that 
the words Yas sen are corruptly given for Sen yat; in which case 
this piece will also be found in print. See "Ancient Scotbh 
Poems," vol. il p. 214, 1786. It begins : 

" Sen that [the] eyne, that worlds my weilfaire ;" 


30 HISTORICAL ESSA V ON 

In that truly excellent composition, " At Beltayn ; or, 
Peblis to the Play," the royal author has referred to some 
popular songs of his own time, which may be thought to 
deserve notice, though now irretrievably lost Thus, in 
stanza the sixth : 

" Ane zoung man stert into that steid, 
AIs cant as ony colti 
Ane birkin hat vpon his heidi 
With ane bow and ane bolt ; 
Saidi mirrie madinis, think nocht lang, 
The wedder is fair and smolt 
He cleikit vp ane hie ruf sang, 
Thair fure ane man to the holt, 

Quod he. 
Of Peblis to the play." 

Again, in stanza the twenty-fifth : 

*' He fippillit lyk ane faderles fole, 
And [said] be still, my sweit thing. — 
Be the haly rud of Peblis, 
I may nocht rest for greting.— 
He quhissilit and he pypit bayth, 
To mak hir blyth that melting : 
My hony hart, how sayis the sang 7 
Thair sal be mirth at our meting 

Zit. 
Of Peblis to the play." 

In some of the prologues to the admirable translation 
of Virgil by Gawin Douglas, Bishop of Dunkeld, in 
'S^Sj several songs are mentioned, which were doubt- 
less popular, and probably ancient at that time. Thus, 
for instance, in the prologue to Book XII. : 

" On salt stremes wolk Dorida and Thetis 
By ryzmand strandis, nymphes and Naiades, 
Sic as we clepe wenschis and damyssellis. 
In gersy grauis wanderand by spring weUis, 
Of blomed branschis and flouris quhyte and rede 
Plettand thare lusty chaplettis for thare hede : 

and, though consisting of thirteen long stanzas, is much more of a 
song than the other. 


SCOTISH SONG. 31 

Sum sang ring saqg^ dancis, ledis and rotindis, 
With vocis schil, quhil all the dale resotmdis ; 
Quhareso thay walk into thare karoling, 
For amourus layis dois all the rochis ring 
Ane sang, ' The schip salis ouer the salt fame. 
Will bring thir merchandis and my lemane hame.' 
Sun vther singis, * I will be blyith and licht* 
My hert is lent apoun sa gudly wicht' " 


Again, in the same prologue : 


" Our awin nadue bird, gentil dow, 
Singand on hir kynde* ' I come bidder to wow.' " 

Again, in the prologue to Book XIII. : 

" Thareto thir birdis singis in thare schawls, 
As menstralis playis, 'The ioly day now dawis.'" * 

The " Flowers of the Forest," a song commemorative 

* This song or tune appears to have been very famous. The poet 
Dunbar, in a satirical address to the merchants of Edinburgh, (MSS. 
More, LL 5, 10,) says, 

" Your commone menstralis hes no tone, 
Bot * Now the day dawis,' and 'Into Joun.' ** 

la. "The Muses Threnodie," p. 146, Perth, 1774, these words, 
** Hey the day now dawnes," are quoted as the name of "a cele- 
brated old Scotch song," as indeed it must be, if the same with that 
mentioned by Bishop Douglas. In "The Life and Death of the 
Piper of Kilbarchan ; or. The Epitaph of Habbie Simson," (" Scots 
Poems," 1706,) is the following line : 

" NoW| who shall play *The day it dawst'** 
The tune may therefore, it is highly probable, be stiU known to 
pipers; and if so, might be yet recovered. There is some doubt, 
however, after all, whether the song or tune be actually, or at least 
originally, Scotish. In the Fairrax MS., a collection of musical 
pieces made about the year 1500, is a song of two stanzas, written, 
it should seem, out of compliment to Queen Elizabeth, daughter of 
Edward IV., and wife to Henry VII, the first of which is as follows : 

•* This day day dawes, 
This gentil day dawes, 
And I must home gone. 

" In a glorious garden grene, 
Saw I sytting a comly quene, 


32 HISTORICAL ESS A Y ON 

of the battle of Flodden, in 15 13, and inserted in the 
present collection, must, if actually of that age, be 
allowed a much finer specimen of lyric elegy than the 
English language is able to produce at so early a period.* 
Its antiquity, however, has been called in question ; and 

Among the flouris that fresh byn ; 
She gadered a floure and sett betwenei 
The lyly whyzt rose methought I sawe, 

And ever she sang, 

This day day dawes, 

This gentil day dawes.'* 

Sec it in a collection of "Ancient Songs in Score/' fol., 1779. 
The music is nothing more than mere drawling chants in counter- 
point, without the slightest pretension to melody ; so that it would 
seem as if either the English harmonist had entirely spoiled the 
Scotish tune, or the Scotish piper had considerably improved the 
English one. 

* Mr Tytler, in his ingenious but fanciful " Dissertation on the 
Scotish Music,"* speaks of **The Souters of Selkirk" as an old 
song, composed on the same occasion. *^This ballad," he adds, 
in a note, "is founded on the following incident : — Previous to the 
battle of Flowden, the town-clerk of Selkirk conducted a band of 
eighty souters, or shoemakers, of that town, who joined the royal 
army ; and the town-clerk, in reward of his lo3ralty, was created a 
knight-banneret by that prince. They fought gallantly, and were 
most of them cut off. A few who escaped, found on their return in 
the forest of Ladjrwood-edge the wife of one of their brethren lying 
dead, and her child sucking her breast. Thence the town of Sel- 
kirk obtained for their arms, a woman sitting upon a sarcophagus 
holding a child in her arms; in the background a wood; and on 
the sarcophagus the arms of Scotland." For all this fine story there 
is probably no foundation whatever. That the souters of Selkirk 
should, in 15131 amount to fourscore fighting men, is a circumstance 
utterly incredible. It is scarcely to be supposed that all the shoe-^ 
makers in Scotland could have produced such an army, at a period 

* Printed (i)at the end of Amot*s "History of Edinburgh," 1779; (2} with 
the "Poetical Remains of James I.," 1783; (3) by way of preface to Napier's 
" Collection of Scots Songs ;'' and, lastly, in the "Transactions of the Society 
of the Antiquaries of Scotland," 1793 


SCOTISH SONG. 33 

the fact is, that no copy, printed or manuscript, so old 
as the beginning of the present century, can be now 
produced. 

King James V. is well known as the reputed author 
of two songs of great merit — the ** Gaberlunzieman," 
and the "Beggar's Meal Pokes," both inserted in the 
present collection, and said to have been composed on 
two of his own adventures : this prince (whose char- 
acter, Dr Percy thinks, for wit and libertinism bears a 
great resemblance to that of his gay successor, Charles 
II.) being noted for strolling about his dominions in dis- 

when shoes must have been still less worn than they are at present 
Dr Johnson, indeed, was told at Aberdeen that the people learned 
the art of makmg shoes from Cromwell's soldiers. " The numbers, " 
he adds, '*that go barefoot are still sufficient to show that shoes 
may be spared : they are not yet considered as necessaries of life ; 
for tall boys, not otherwise meanly dressed, run without them in 
the streets; and in the islands the sons of gentlemen pass several 
of their first years with naked feet," (** Journey to the Western 
Islands," p. 55.) Away, then, with the fable of " The Souters of 
Selkirk ! " Mr Tytler, though he mentions it as the subject of a 
song or ballad, does not '* remember ever to have seen the original 
genuine words," as he obligingly acknowledged in a letter to the 
editor. Mr Robertson, however, who gives the statistical account 
of the parish of Selkirk, seems to know something more of the 
matter. "Some," says he, "have very falsely attributed to this 
event [the battle of Flowden] that song, 

" Up with the souters of Selkirk, and down with the Earl of Hume." 

** There was no Earl of Hume," he adds, "at that time, nor was 
this song composed till long after. It arose from a bet betwixt the 
Philiphaugh and Hume families; the souters (or shoemakers) of 
Selkirk against the men of Hume, at a match of football, in which 
the souters of Selkirk completely gained, and afterwards perpet- 
uated their victory in that song." This is decisive ; and so much 

for Scotish tradition, 

c 


34 HISTORICAL ESSA Y ON 

guise,* and for his frequent gallantries with country girls. 
It is of the latter of these ballads that Mr Walpole has 
remarked, there is something very ludicrous in the young 
woman's distress when she thought her first favours had 
been thrown away upon a beggar. 

His most, and most justly, celebrated performance, 
however, is, " Christ's Kirk on the Green," in which he 
rivalled, or indeed eclipsed, the fame of his great an- 
cestor's once equally popular production, " At Beltayn," 
&c. This, indeed, like the latter, is rather a poem than 
a song, and has been accordingly printed as such in a 
collection which ought to have made its appearance 
many years ago.t 

* ** Sc. of a tinker, beggar, &c. Thus he used to visit a smith's 
daughter at Niddry, near Edinburgh," (** Reliques," ii., 60.) Scot- 
ish writers have repeatedly cited the compliments paid, or supposed 
to be paid, to this monarch, by Ariosto and Ronsard ; but no one 
has ever cited, or perhaps observed, the following passage in the 
** Scaligerana," which may serve to identify or correct his portrait: 
*' Le roy cTEcosse^ Jacques V, estoit camard^ ce qui estoit bien laid, 
quia nasus honestamentum faciei,^* 

t ** Caledonian Muse," printed for J. Johnson, St Paul's Church- 
yard, in 1785. This poem has been erroneously ascribed to James 
I. See an essay on the true author, in the publication referred to. 
A voluminous writer, who deals largely in premeditated falsehood, 
absurd opinions, and confident assertions, positively affirms that 
** there were three poems of this kind, all by James I. — this ; * Falk- 
land on the Grene;' *Pebli8 to the Play.' The first and last," he 
says, ''are preserved; and one refers to the rural manners of the 
north of Scotland ; and is composed in the Scandinavian allitera- 
tion, and with many Norse words. The other, or * Peblis,' to those 
of the south of Scotland; and is fuU of the southern Scotish, or 
north English, words of old metrical romances. * Falkland,' " he 
adds, " is unfortunately lost ; but we may well suppose it described 
the sports of Fifeshire, or the middle of Scotland, in words adapted 
to that part." It only remains for this ingenious romancer to add to 


SCOTISH SONG. 35 

The ballad of "Johnny Armstrong," inserted in this 
collection, is probably coeval with the death of that 
gallant freebooter.* 

The affair of Sol way Moss, in 1542, is generally 
thought to have hastened the king's death. The Scotish 
lords taken prisoners on this occasion were liberated by 
King Henry upon pledges, and appear, from a passage 
in Sir Ralph Sadler's Letters, to have become very un- 
popular. "The Earl of Glencaim," says he, "prayed 
me to write to your majesty, and to beseech the same 
for the passion of God, to encourage them so much as 
to give them trust, for they were already commonly 
hated here for your majesty's sake, and throughout the 
realm called the English lords; and such ballads and 
songs made of them, how the English angels had cor- 
rupted them, as have not been heard." t None of these, 
it is believed, are now to be met with. 

" Where Helen Lyes," a song, as it is supposed, of this 
age, will be found in the present collection. 

In the year 1549, a singular performance was pub- 
lished at St Andrews, which affords considerable infor- 
mation as to the state of Scotish song at that period. It 

his numerous forgeries the imaginary poem of ''Falkland on the 
Grene." 

• The Rev. Mr Boyd, the ingenious translator of Dante, has a 
faint recollection of a ballad '' on some Armstrong, (not the well- 
known ballad of *Johny Armstrong/ in Ramsay's 'Evergreen;')" 
another called "Johny Cox ;" and another "of a Scotch minstrel, 
who stole a horse from some of the Henries of England." The first 
of these ballads is possibly the famous old Border song of " Dick o' 
the Cow," quoted by Mr Pennant, ("Tour," 1772, part 2, p. 276,) 
and printed at length in "The Poetical Museum," Hawick, 1784. 

t P. 198. 


36 HISTORICAL ESSA Y ON 

is entitled, " Vedderburn's * Complainte of Scotlande, 
vyth ane exortatione to the thre estaits to be vigilant in 
the deflfens of their public veil;" and is dedicated to the 
queen dowager regent Whoever this Wedderburn was, 
his work has been usually, though doubtless untruly, 
ascribed to Sir James Inglis, a celebrated writer about 
that time. The book is so very rare and curious, not 
above a single copy of it being known to exist, that 
the reader, it is hoped, will not be dissatisfied with the 
length of the following extract. The author, become 
weak and sad through study, supposes himself, for the 
sake of recreation, to pass " to the green holsum fields," 
where he observes the birds and beasts, and describes 
the sounds they uttered; he is also witness to an en- 
gagement between two ships, of which he likewise gives 
a minute description. He then proceeds as follows : — 
" The reik, smuik, and the stink of the gunpuldir fylit all 
the ayr . . . quhilk generit sik mirknes and myst that 
i culd nocht see my l)mtht about me, quharfor i rais 
and returnit to the fresche feildis . . . quhar i beheld 
mony hudit hirdis blauuand ther buc homis and ther 

• Vedderburn^ for Wedderburn; the v being almost everywhere 
substituted for the w; not, as a certain eccentric writer absurdly 
conjectures, because the types were brought from France, (as if a 
w could not have been made of w^ as it actually is, in some in- 
stances, of uu;) but because it was the dialect of that and the pre- 
ceding centuries, not in Scotland only, but in the north of England ; 
though now a peculiarity of the London cockneys. (See " Sir Ralph 
Sadler's Letters," &c., p. 20; also a curious warrant of King James 
I. in Morgan's '' Phoenix Britannicus," p. 54, and some old songs 
used in the Bishoprick of Durham, MSS., Harl., 7578.) It is, 
however, less accountable that the w is not, with equal impropriety, 
printed for the v. 


SCOTISH SONG. 37 

come pipis, calland and conuoyand mony fat floe to be 
fed on the feldis ; than the scheiphirdis pat there scheip 
on bankis and brais^ and on dry hillis, to get ther pas- 
tour. Than i beheld the scheiphirdis vyuis and ther 
childir that brocht there momyng bracfast to the scheip- 
hirdis. . . . Than after there disiune tha began to talk 
of grit myrrynes that was rycht plesand to be hard. In 
the fyrst the prencipal scheiphirde made ane orisone tyl 
al the laif of his compangzons as eftir foUouis." The 
subject is a description of the universe. '* Quhen the 
scheipherd hed endit his prolixt orison to the laif of the 
scheiphirdis, i meruellit nocht litil, quhen i herd ane 
rustic pastour of bestialite, distitut of vrbanite and of 
speculatione of natural philosophe, indoctryne his nycht- 
bours as he hed studeit Ptholome, Auerois, Aristotel, 
Galien, Ypocrites, or Cicero, quhilk var expert practicians 
in methamatic art. Than the scheiphirdis vyf said, my 
veil belouit hisband, i pray the to decist fra that tideus 
melancolic orison quhilk surpassis thy ingyne, be rason 
that it is nocht thy facultee to disput in ane profund 
mater, the quhilk thy capacite can nocht comprehend ; 
therfor i th)mk it best that ve recreat our selfis vytht 
io)rus comon)mg quhil on to the tyme that ve return to 
the scheip fald vytht our flokkis : and to begyn sic re- 
creatione i thynk it best that euyrie one of vs tel ane 
gude tayl or fabil to pas the tyme quhil * euyn.' Al the 
scheiphirdis, ther vyuis and * saruandis ' var glaid of this 
propositione : than the eldest scheiphird began, and al 
the laif foUouit ane be ane in their * auen ' place." He 
then gives the names of the stories and tales he heard, 
which are very curious; and thus proceeds: "Quhen 


38 HISTORICAL ESS A V ON 

thir scheiphyrdis hed tald al thyr pleysand storeis, than 

thay and ther vyuis began to sing sueit melodius sangis 

of natural music of the antiquite : the foure marmadyns 

that sang quhen Thetis vas mareit on Month Pillion, 

thai sang nocht sa sueit as did thir scheiphyrdis, quhilkis 

are callit to name Parthenopie, Leucolia, Illigeatempora, 

the feyrd callit Legia; for thir scheiphirdis excedit al 

thir four marmadyns in melodius music, in gude accordis 

and reportis of dyapason, prolations, and dyatesseron. 

The musician ' Amphion,' quhilk sang sa dulce quhil that 

the stanis mouit, and alse the scheip and nolt, and the 

foulis of the ayr pronuncit there bestial voce to sing 

vitht hym; zit nochtheles, his ermonius sang prefferrit 

nocht the sueit sangis of thir foir said scheiphirdis. Nou 

i vil reherse sum of the ' sueit ' sangis that i herd amang 

them as eftir foUouis : in the fyrst, ' Pastance vitht gude 

companye,' * * The breir byndis me soir,' ' Stil vnder the 

le3ruis grene,'t ^ Cou thou me the raschis grene,' J ' AUace 

* This is a song by our Henry VIII., as is supposed, of which 

the words and music are preserved in a coeval manuscript in the 

editor's possession, where it is entitled, **The King's Ballet.'* It 

begins: 

" Passetyme with good cumpanye 

I love, and shall vnto I dye/' 

f This song is in the Maitland manuscript. It consists of eighteen 
stanzas, of which the first is as follows : — 

'* Still vndir the levis grene 
This hindir day I went alone, 
I hard ane may sair mwme and meyne. 
To the king of luif scho maid hir mone ; 

Scho sychtit sely soir, 

Said, lord, I luif thj loir ; 
Mair wo dreit never woman one, 
O langsum lyfe, and thow war gone, 

Than sould I mwme ho moir/' 

% See "Ancient Songs," p. 54, (1790.) 


SCOTISH SONG. 39 

i vyit zour tua fayr ene/ ^ Gode zou gude day vil boy/ 
* Lady help zour presoneir/ ' Kyng Villzamis note,* * The 
lang noune nou,' *The cheapel-valk,' *Faytht is there 
none/ * Skald a bellis nou/ * The Abirdenis nou brume 
brume on hil/ 1 ' Allone i veip in grit distres,' * Trolee 
lolee lemmendou/ ' Bille vil thou cum by a lute and belt 
the in sanct Francis cord/ *The frog cam to the myl 
dur,J 'The sang of Gilquhiskar/ *Rycht soirly musing 
in my mynde/ * God sen the due hed byddin in France 
and Delabaute had "neuyr" cum hame/§ * Al musing of 


* This is supposed to be the song sung by Hendy Nicholas in 
Chaucer's ** MiUer's Tale : " 

"And after that he song the kinges note, 
Ful often blessed was his mery throte." 

t Here are probably two titles: ** Broom, Broom on Hill," at 
least, was a popular English ballad. See "Ancient Songs," p. 60, 

(1790.) 

X Mr Warton ("History of English Poetry," vol. iii., p. 445) 
says, "There is a ballad, * A Moste Strange Weddinge of the Frogge 
and the Mouse,* licensed by the Stationers to E. White, Nov. 21, 
1580." It was doubtless the original of a childish, and, indeed, 
nursery song, beginning, 

** There was a frog lived in a well, 
And a farce mouse in a mill,^ &c. , 

which, much altered, and set to a fine Italian air, was a few years 
since sung about the streets. See "Gammer Gurton's Garland," 
p. 5, (Stockton, 1784.) 

§ John, Duke of Albany, regent during the minority of James V., 
being sent for into France, left in his place Sir Andrew D'Arcy, a 
Frenchman, called the Chevalier de la Beaute, who appears to have 
been a very gallant and amiable character, and was savagely mur- 
dered near Dunbar, by the Laird of Wedderbum and others, in 


40 


HISTORICAL ESSA V ON 


meruellis a mys hef i gone,' * Maestres fayr ze vil forfoyr/ 

* O lusty Maye vitht Flora quene,' * * O myne hart hay 

* 


a 


^ 


^ 


:^ 


r ^ *r. J 


is: 


t 


O lust - y May with Flo - ra queen, The balm- 


Si 


^J Q J O J 


E 


JOL 


s: 


y drops from Phe - bus sheen, Pre - lu - sant beams be - fore 


J ^p L. J ».^i ^"i J ^ 


i 


zz: 


-s> 


the day, be - fore the day, the day; By thee Di - a- 


i 


s: 


321 


E 


^^ 


na grow - eth green, Thro' glad - ness of this lust 


-miim 


i 


3^ 


321 


E 


May, Thro' glad - ness of this lust - y. 

" Then Aurora that is so bright, 
To woful hearts ' she ' casts great light. 
Right pleasantly before the day, &c. 
And shows and sheds furth of that light, 
Through gladness of this lusty May, 
Through gladness of this lusty May. 

" Birds on their beughs, of every sort. 
Sends forth their notes, and makes great mirth. 
On banks that blooms on every bray, &c. 
And fares and flyes ov'r field and firth, 
Through gladness, &c. 

" All lovers hearts that are in care, 
To their ladies they do repare. 
In fresh mornings before the day, &c. 
And are in mirth ay more and more, 
Through gladness, &c. 


May. 


" Of every moneth in the year. 
To mirthful May there is no peer ; 


SCOTISff SONG. 41 

this is my sang/ *The battel of the Hayrlau/* 'The 
hunttis of Cheuet,' *Sal i go vitht zou to Rumbelo fayr,' 
*Greuit is my sorrou,'t *Turne the sueit ville to me,' 
*My lufe is lyand seik send hym ioy, send him ioy,* 
' Fayr luf lent thou me thy mantil ioy/ * The Perssee & 
the Mongumrye met, that day, that gentil day/ J *My luf is 
laid apon ane knycht/ ' AUace that samyn sueit face/ ' In 
ane myrthtful morou/ ' My hart is " leinit " on the land/ 
Thir scheiphirdis ande there V3aiis sang mony vther me- 
lodius sangis, the quhilkis i hef nocht in memorie : than 
eftir this sueit celest armonye tha began to dance/' &c. 

Her glistring garments axe so gay, 
You lovers all, make merry cheer, 
Through gladness of this lusty May, 
Through gladness of this lusty May." 

A copy of this song, extant in the Hyndford MS., in the Advo- 
cates' Library, Edinburgh, contains several variations, and entirely 
omits the last stanza. 

* This is presumed to be the fine poem printed in the ** Ever- 
green," which, with submission to the opinion of the late Lord 
Hailes, may, for an3rthing that appears, either in or out of it, to the 
contrary, be as old as the fifteenth century. It does not, at pre- 
sent, give the idea of a song ; and must have been sung, if at all, 
either to a very slow air, or to the common chant. Nothing, per- 
haps, ought to be inferred unfavourable to the existence of songs 
not mentioned in this list ; and yet one may naturally wonder that 
it should omit so fine a composition as "Flowden Hill," if then 
extant. 

t See this at full length in "Ancient Songs," p. 93, (1790.) 
Greuit should be Greuus. 

% Two lines of the old original ballad of " Chevy Chase," already 
named by " The Hunttis of Cheuet." See " Percy's Reliques," &c, 
vol. i., p. 2. The Scots laid claim to the more modem ballad at 
an early period, giving themselves the honour of the day, and turn- 
ing the sarcasm of runaways upon the enemy. They sung it to the 
tune of "The Yle of Kyle." 


42 HISTORICAL ESS A V ON 

That songs in parts were in vogue at this period, we 
have the direct testimony of Sir David Lindsay, who, 
in his "Satyre of the Thrie Estaits," (Edin. 1602, 4to,) 
introduces the character of Solace with these words : — 

" Now quha saw euer sic ane thrang? 
Me thocht sum said I had gaine wrang ; 
Had I help I wald sing ane sang, 

With ane richt mirrie noyse : 
I haue sic pleasour at ray hart, 
That garris me sing the troubill pairt ; 
Wald sum gude fallow fill the quart, 

It wad my hairt reioyce." 

So, again, in another page : — 

** Sister howbeit that I am hais, 
I am content to bear a bais." 

Several " mistoinit sangis'' appear to have been sung 
in the representation of this strange performance ; but 
nothing of the kind is preserved either in the printed 
copy or in the manuscript. 

The lyric muse would seem of a turbulent disposition, 
being generally found pretty active in popular disturb- 
ances. Even the reformation of religion in this country 
appears not to have been effected without her assist- 
ance. Some time after the king's death, " Ane Wil- 
soun, servant to the bischope of Dunkeld, quha nether 
knew the new testament nor the auld, maid a dispyitful 
raining ballat against the preicheours, and against the 
govemour, for the quilk he narrowly eschaipit hanging:* 

* " Knox's Historic," p. 33. In another place (p. 77) he pre- 
serves the following "sang of triumphe** of the Papists on the 
surrender of the castle of St Andrews, by those who had slain the 
archbishop, to the French forces, in 1546; some of the prisoners 


SCOTISH SONG. 43 

the usual method in Scotland of answering a satirical 
poet* 

In the year 1560, the Protestant party, calling them- 
selves "The congregation of the Lord," headed by 
James Duke of Chastelherault and others, had taken 
possession of Edinburgh, where they were already re- 
duced to great straits, when the Count de Martigues 
arrived from France with a considerable force to the 
assistance of the Queen-Dowager Regent, and in a very 
short time after a still more formidable army of English 
came to that of " The congregation/' Many skirmishes 
happened j the French were besieged in Leith ; and the 
country, no doubt, suffered in every quarter. Of this 
period is the following song, which, considering the rarity 
of such like compositions, seems worth preserving : t — 

being left in the gaUeys, **and there," as he says, ** miserablie en- 
treatit"— - 

" Preistis content yow now, priesds content yovir now ; 
For Normond* and his cumpanie hes fillit the gallayU fow." 

* See "Crawford's Memoirs," p. 315, (Edinburgh, 1753.) 

f In the 4to Maitland MS., whence this is taken, and which is 
dated 1586, is ** Ane ballat to be sunge with the tuine of * Luifer 
come to Luifeiris dore,* " &c. It is indifferent and long. In the 
same MS. is the '*Bankis of Helicon," (now published,) in the 
metre of " The Cherrie and the Slae," and to the tune of which that 
celebrated poem is, in the Hyndford MS., directed to be sung. 
See "Ancient Scottish Poems," p. 316, (Edin. 1770;) Tytler's 
** Dissertation," &c, p. 201. **The Cherrie and the Slae," how- 
ever, is not in that MS. 

N.B. — Since the editor's transcript was made, this ballad has 
been printed by Pinkerton, ("Ancient Scotish Poems," 1786.) 

* Norman Leslie, master of Rothes, one of the prisoners. 


44 HISTORICAL ESSA V ON 

** In this new zeir I sie bot weir, 

Na caus to sing ; 

In this new zeir I sie bot weir, 

Na caus thair is to sing. 
I can not sing for the vexatioun 
Of Frenchmen and the congregatioun, 
That has maid trowbill in this natioun, 
And monye bair biging. 

In this new zeir I sie bot weir, 

Na caus, &c. 

In this new zeir, &c. 

'* I haue na will to sing or danse, 
For feir of England and of France ; 
God send them sorrow and mischance 
Is caus of their cumming ! 
In this new zeir, &c. 

'' We ar sa rewlit ritche and puire, 
That we wait not quhair to be suire, 
The Boiu-dour as the Borrow muire, 
Quhair sum perchance will hing. 
In this new zeir, &c. 

" And zit I think it best that we 
Pluck up our hairt and mirrie be, 
For thocht we wald ly down and die. 
It will ws help na thing. 
In this new zeir, &c. 

'* Let ws pray God to stainche this weir. 
That we may leif withouttin feir. 
Inn mirrines quhill we ar heir, 
And hevin at our ending. 

In this new zeir I sie but weir, 

Na caus thair is to sing, &c." 

Such was the state of Scotish song, when, in the year 
1 56 1, Queen Mary returned from France to her native 
country. No character is to be found in history so 
nearly approaching excellence and perfection as this 
illustrious princess, before the turbulence of her unruly 
and fanatical subjects bewildered her senses, and plunged 
her into error and misfortune. At any other period, 
one is almost tempted to say in any other country, such 
a sovereign would have been the idol of her people. 


SCOTISff SONG, 45 

Not less remarkable for the accomplishments of her 
mind, than for the beauty of her person, she wrote the 
most elegant songs, and sang to her lute like an angel.* 
The only pieces of her composition now known are, it 
is true, in a foreign tongue, and were written during her 
happier residence in France, or upon her sorrowful de- 
parture from it ;t but it is by no means improbable that 
she occasionally condescended to honour her mother 
tongue ; which, barbarous and discordant as it sounded 
in the delicate ears of the French courtiers, she pro- 
nounced with such a grace as to make it appear even to 
them the most sweet and agreeable. % Yet this princess, 

* Brantome, " Dames lUustres.*' 

t See a close and elegant version of the beautiful song she com- 
posed on her passage in ** A Historical Essay on National Song," 
prefixed to " English Songs," vol. i., for which, as well as for the 
other poetical translations in that performance, the public is in- 
debted to the late John Ba)mes, Esq., a gentleman of considerable 
erudition, uncommon genius, and fine taste, who died universally 
lamented, at the immature age of twenty-seven, 

X Brantome, " Dames Dlustres." This author, who accompa- 
nied the queen to Scotland, gives a curious account of the cordial 
welcome she met with from her pious and polished subjects; — 
**Estant log^e en bas en I'abbaye de I'lslebourg, vindrent sous la 
fenestre cinq ou six cents marauts de la ville, luy donner aubade de 
meschants violons et petits rebecs, dont il n'y en a faute en ce pays 
la ; et se mirent k chanter pseaumes, tant nial chantez, et si mal 
accordez, que rien plus. He ! quelle musique, et quel repos pour 
sa nuit.*' — Ibi. These raggamuffins Knox calls **a cumpanie of 
most honest men," who, he says, "with instruments of musick, 
and with musicians, gave their salutatiouns at hir chamber window. 
The melodie," he adds, **as sche alledged, lyked hir weill, and 
sche willed tlie same to be continued sum nychts efter with grit 
diligence." Her politeness, if the story be true, seems only to 
have increased the insolence and brutality of this ferocious Re- 
former and his fanatical adherents. 


46 HISTORICAL ESSA V ON 

beautiful, elegant, and accomplished as she was, and 
adorned with all the graces that ever centred in woman, 
was inhumanly persecuted by barbarous and enthusiastic 
ruffians, who owed her allegiance, and had sworn fidelity 
to her as their sovereign ; and after nineteen years' con- 
finement, was deliberately murdered in cold blood by 
an envious, malignant, and treacherous hag, who had 
offered her an asylum.* The injured character of this 
illustrious and amiable princess has been completely 
vindicated from the calumnies of her malicious accusers, 
not in Scotland only, but in England and in France, 
within the compass of a few years pastf Her testament 
and letters, which the writer of these pages has seen, 
blotted with her tears, in the Scots College, Paris, 
will remain perpetual monuments of singular abilities, 
tenderness, and affection, of a head and heart, in short, 
of which no other queen in the world was probably ever 
possessed. 

From the manuscript collection of George Bannat)me, 
compiled in 1568, Lord Hailes has favoured the public 
with a few songs of some value. " The Wowing of Jock 
and Jenny" is still popular, and the "Ballat of Evil 

* It is well known that this execrable fiend tampered with Sir 
Amy Powlet and Sir Drue Drury to murder the Queen of Scots 
privately, which they had either the virtue or the cunning to 
decline. Her hypocrisy was equal to her cruelty, and she would 
have immediately hung them up. Every one knows how she per- 
secuted Secretary Davison, for despatching the warrant she had 
signed for the queen's execution. 

t See Goodall's "Examination," &c., 2 vols., (Edin., 1754;) 
TyUer's "Inquiry,'* (Edin., 1760, 1770, 1792;) " Histoire d'Elisa- 
beth," par Madame Keralio, 5 tomes, (Paris, 1788;) and Whit- 
aker's "Vindication," &c., 3 vols., (1788, 1790.) 


SCOTISH SONG, 47 

Wyffis," and " Ballat of Guid Fallowis," have no incon- 
siderable degree of poetical merit for so remote an age. 
" Robene and Makyne," by Henrysone, " The Blait 
Luvar," *^ The Luvaris Lament," by Fethy, and several 
pieces by Alexander Scot, though not all, perhaps, pro- 
perly songs, are entitled to a still higher compliment. 
This, indeed, was the Augustan age of Scotish poetry. 

James VL, better known as a composer of psalms, 
sonnets, and madrigals, is now first mentioned as a 
writer of songs. In the library of St Martin's parish, 
Westminster, is a MS. volume, containing "all the 
king's short poems that are not printed;" and among 
these are three songs, the first beginning, " What mortal 
man may live but hart;" the second, "When as the 
skilful archer false ;" the third .... being " The first 
verses that ever the king made." Whatever may be the 
character of these particular pieces, some of his compo- 
sitions, it ought to be acknowledged, are not destitute of 
poetical noerit. 

" The Bonny Earl of Murray," composed, as it ap- 
pears, in 1592, may be noticed as a production of this 
reign ; as may, likewise, the excellent stanzas of " Tak 
yer Auld Cloak about ye," and " Waly, Waly, up the Bank," 
of which the former is directly quoted in Shakespeare's 
tragedy of " Othello,'* supposed to have been written 
in 161 1 ; and the other is also cited in a strange but 
curious, and apparently antique musical medley pub- 
lished in t666 : both therefore may be regarded as hav- 
ing been popular songs before the year 1600.* 

• The following passages, from others of the like kind in the 
same performance, seem also scraps of old songs : — 


48 HISTORICAL ESSA V ON 

It was a practice with the pious puritans, as well of 
England as of Scotland, to write their enthusiastic rhap- 
sodies to the tunes of common and popular songs, of 
which they generally, if not uniformly, preserved a few 
lines at the beginning. Of these moralisations, as they 
are called, a pretty considerable volume was printed, for 
the second time, at Edinburgh, by Andrew Hart, in the 
year 162 1, under the title of " Ane compendious booke 
of godly and spirituall songs. Collectit out of sundrie 
partes of the scripture, with sundrie of other ballates, 
changed out of prophaine sanges, for avoyding of sinne 
and harlotrie, with augmentation of sundrie gude and 
godly ballates, not contained in the first edition. Newlie 


" loly under the green wood tree, 
loly under the green wood tree, 
Be soft and sober, I you pray, 
My lady will come here away : 
Go graith you in your glansand geer, 
To meet my lady pair and pair, 
With harps and lutes and guittrons gay. 
My lady will come here away. 

" Underneath the green wood tree, 
There the * god * Love bideth thee, 

Frisca ioly 
Polland the sloe, she doth ago, 

Singing so merrily.'' 

" I saw three ladies fair singing, hey and how upon yon leyland, hey, 
I saw three mariners singing Rumbelow, upon yon see stand, hey." 

*' The pyper's drone was out of tune> 
Sing young Thomlin, be merry, be merry, and twise so merry, 
With the light of the moon, hey, hey down a down." 

" The malt's come down, be merry, be merry ; 
The malt *s come down, hey troly loly loly." 

" Three birds on a tree. 
Three and three, and other three. 
The boniest bird come down to me," &c. 


SCOTISff SONG. 49 

corrected and amended by the first originall copie."* 
The following are the first stanzas of all the '^ ballates" 
which appear to have been " changed out of prophaine 
sanges :" — 

" Richt sorely musing in my minde. 
For pietie sore my herts p3auie : 

* For the sight and use of this singular cariosity, the editor has 
to thank Mr George Paton of the Custom House, Edinburgh. It 
is a small duodecimo, in black letter. The original impression 
must have appeared many years before, as in a MS. ** Historie of 
the Estate of the Kirke of Scotland, written by ane old minister of 
the Kirke of Scotland, at the desire of some of his young brethren 
for their informatione," A.D. 1560, in the possession of the same 
gentleman, it is said that, '* for the more particular meanes whereby 
came the knowledge of God's truth in the time of great darkness, 
was such as Sir David Lindseye's poesie, Wedderbume*s ' Psalmes 
and Godlie Ballands/ of godlie purposes,^* &c This Wedderbume 
was doubtless the identical person who has been already mentioned 
as author of the *^ Complaint of Scotland," 1549; many songs, it is 
observable, mentioned in that work being parodied or spiritualised 
in this '' compendious booke," of which a very injudicious " speci- 
men" was published at Edinburgh by the late Lord Hailes in 1764. 
The last article in the book is a poem in three stanzas by King 
James I., which it is somewhat extraordinary that Mr Tytler, who 
had the perusal of Mr Paton's copy long before he published the 
'' Poetical Remains ** of that monarch, should overlook, unless he 
was misled by the note of some former owner of the book to sup- 
fpose that the words " Quod King James the First " refer generally 
to the whole volume, (see ** Poetical Remains," &c., p. 32.) It 

begins — 

** Sen throw vertue incressis dignity.** 

It is much to be regretted {en passant) that this gentleman should 
have been under the necessity of printing the ** Kingis Quair*' from 
a pretended transcript attempted by some illiterate schoolboy, and 
abounding, in almost every line, with the most senseless and extra- 
vagant blunders, all of which have been religiously preserved in a 
subsequent edition printed at Perth. 

D 


50 HISTORICAL ESSA Y ON 

Quhen I remember on Christ so kynde, 

That sauit mee. 
Nane culde mee saue from thyle to Ynde 

But onely hee.*' 

" Alace, that same sweit face, 
That deit vpon ane * tree,* 
To purchase mankynde peace. 
From sinne to make us free, 
Allone to be our remedie." 

" Quho is at my windo, who who ? 
Goe from my windo, goe goe : 
Quha calles there, so like ane stranger ? 
Goe from my window, goe ; 
Lord, I am here," &c.* 

" Intill ane mirthful 1 May morning, 
Quhen Phebus vp did spring. 
Waking I lay in ane garding gay, 
Thinkand on Christ sa free, 
Quhilk meikly for mankind, 
Tholit to be pynd 

On croce cruelly. La. La." t 

" All my hart ay this is my sang. 
With doubil mirth and joy amang ; 
Sa blyth as bird my God to fang, 
Christ hes my hert ay." 

" My lufe mumis for me for me. 
My lufe that murnis for me ; 
I am not in kinde hes not in mind 
My lufe that mumis for me." 

* The original is an English song printed at the end of Hey- 
wood*s " Rape of Lucrece,*' (1630,) and, with the music, in D'Urfey's 
" Pills to Purge Melancholy," (1719.) Two stanzas of it are also 
quoted in Beaumont and Fletcher's *' Knight of the Burning 
PesUe." 
+ The original is as foUows : — 

" Into a mirthfiU May morning. 
As Phebus did up spring, 
I saw a may both fair and gay. 
Most goodly for to see : 
I said to her, Be kind. 
To me that was so pyn'd. 
For your love truly." 


SCOTISff SONG, 51 

" Tell me now and in quhat wise, 
How that I suld my lufe forga. 
Baith day and night ane thousand sise 
*Thir' tyrannis waikens me with wa.** 

** Allone I weipe in greit distresse. 
Wee are exilit remedilesse : 

And wait not why, 
Fra God's word, allace, allace, 
Uncourteouslie. " 

" Gryuous is my sorrow. 
Both at euin and morrow. 
Unto myselfe allone : 
Thus Christ makes his mone. 
Saying, Unkindnesse killed mee. 
And puts mee to this paine, 
Allace what remedie. 
For I would not refraine." * 

" Johne, cum kis me now, 
Johne, cum kis me now : 
Johne, cum kis me by and by, 
And make no more adow.^ 

" Musing greitlie in my minde. 
The follie that is in mankinde : 
Whilke is so brukill and so blind. 
And downe sail come, downe aye downe aye.' 

" Downe by yond river I ran, 
Downe by yond river I ran, 
Thinkand on Christ sa sweit. 
That broght mee to libertie. 
And I ane sinfull man." 

" O Christ quhilk art the light of day, 
The elude of night thou driues away. 
The beame of glore beleuit right, 
Shawand till vs thy perfite light." 

" This is na night as naturall. 
Nor zit na elude material!. 
That thow expels, as I heir say, 
O Christ quhilk art the light of day." 


* See the original " Ancient Songs," p. 93, (1790.) The parody 
contains no fewer than twenty-one stanzas. Another contains 
twenty-two, and "Johne, cum kis me now," twenty-six. The rest 
contain from four to fifteen. 


52 HIS70RICAL ESS A V ON 


" With hunts vp, with huntis up, 
It is now perfite day : 
Jesus our king is gane in hunting, 
Quha likes to speed they may.*' 

" Baneist is faith now euery quhair 
And sair for thinkes me, 
Baneist is faith now euery quhair. 
Be the shauin sort I zow declair, 
Alace therefore my hert is sair, 
And blyth I can noght be/* 

" The wind blawis cald, furious and bald 
< This lang and mony day ; 
But Christ's mercy we mon all die. 
Or keep the cald wind away.' 

" Hay"now the day dallis, 
Now Christ on vs callis. 
Now welth on our wallis 

Appeiris anone : 
Now the word of God rings, 
Whilk is king of all kings : 
Now Christis flock sings. 
The night is neere gone." 

" Till our gude-man, till our gude-man : 
Keip faith and loue till our gude-man. 
For our gude-man in heuin does reigne. 
In glore and blisse without ending 
Where angels singes euer Osan, 
In laude and praise of our gude-man." 

" Remember man, remember man. 
That I thy sauU from Sathan wan 
And hes done for thee what I can, 

Thow art full deir formee. 
Is was, nor sail be none, 
What may thee saue but I allone, 
Onely therefore beleiue mee on. 

And thou sail neuer die.' 


(( 


All* my loue Icife me not, 
Leif mee not, leif mee not. 
All my loue leif mee not, 
Thus mine allone, 


* A li is SL frequent misprint for ak; probably Hart printed from 
an old manuscript copy, in which the A had the appearance of //• 


SCOTISH SONG. 53 

With ane burding on my backe, 
I may not beir it I am so waik, 
Loue, this burding from mee take. 
Or else I am gone." 

There are other pieces in the same volume written 
apparently in the measure, or to the tune of well-known 
poems or songs ; as, for instance, in one place, " Fol- 
lowis ane sang of the birth of Christ : with the tune of 
' Baw lu la law.' " 

In Verstegan*s " Restitution of Decayed Intelligence," 
&c., printed originally at Antwerp, in 1605, we meet 
with the following curious anecdote : — " So fell it out of 
late years, that an English gentleman travelling in Pales- 
tine, not far from Jerusalem, as he passed thorow a 
country town, he heard by chance a woman sitting at 
her door dandling her child, to sing, ' Bothwel Bank, 
thow blumest fayre :' the gentleman hereat exceedingly 
wondered, and forthwith in English saluted the woman, 
who jo3^ully answered him, and said she was right glad 
there to see a gentleman of our isle, and told him that 
she was a Scottish woman, and came first from Scotland 
to Venice, and from Venice thither, where her fortime 
was to be the wife of an officer under the Turk, who 
being at that instant absent, and very soon to return, 
intreated the gentleman to stay there until his return ; 
the which he did, and she for country sake, to show her- 
self the more kind and bountiful unto him, told her hus- 
band, at his homecoming, that the gentleman was her 
kinsman ; whereupon her husband entertained him very 
friendly, and at his departure gave him divers things of 
good value."* Whatever truth there may be in this 

* Edit. 1673, P* 327- In a curious dramatic piece, entitled " Phi 


54 HISTORICAL ESS A V ON 

story, no doubt can be entertained as to the existence 
of the song, which, it is much to be wished, we were 
able to recover. The one containing the same line in a 
late publication of " Select Scotish Ballads," vol. ii., is 
a despicable forgery. 

King Charles I., like his father, was a poet, though 
no song writer. His great and gallant general, the 
heroic Montrose, has left us some elegant lines, which, 
with a few other pieces of this period, will be found 
in the present collection. 

A sort of music book, printed (for the second time) at 
Aberdeen, in 1666, entitled "Cantus : Songs and Fancies, 
to three, four, or five parts, both apt for voices and viols. 
With a brief introduction to music, as is taught by 
Thomas Davidson, in the musick-school of Aberdene," 
is to be mentioned as the first known collection, of 
Scotish songs, or rather in which Scotish songs are to 
be found. These are — " O lusty May with Flora Queen," 
(see before, p. 40 ;) " Into a mirthful May Morning,'' 
(see before, p. 50 ;) " In a Garden so Grene ;" " Come, 
Love, let 's walk in yonder Spring ;" " How should my 
feeble body fiire ;" " No wonder is suppose my weeping 
eyes ;" " Like as the dumb solsequium," (by Captain 
Montgomery, author of the "Cherrie and the Slae;") 
" The Gowans are gay, my Jo ;" " My bailful breast in 

lotus," printed at Edinburgh in 1603, by way of finale, is "Ane 
Sang of the Foure Lufearis,** though little deserving that title. It 
is followed by the old English song, beginning — 

" What if a day, or a month, or a year,** 

alluded to in " Hudibras," which appears to have been sung at the 
end of the play, and was probably at that time new and fashion- 
able. 


SCOTJSH SONG. 55 

blood all bruist j" " I love great God above ;'* "Where 
art thou, Hope f " Wo worth the Time and eke the 
Place ;" " Joy to the Person of my Love ;" " Will said to 
his Mammie ;" " Care, away go thou from me :" two of 
which, esteemed the best, will be found in the present 
collection.* 

In the Pepysian collection is " a proper new ballad," 
printed before the Restoration, entitled, " The wind hath 
blown my Plaid away, or a Discourse betwixt a Young 
Maid and the Elphin Knight. To be sung with its own 
pleasant new tune." It contains twenty stanzas, of which 
the first may serve as a. sufficient specimen : — 

" The Elphin knight sits on yon hill, 
6a, ba, ba, lilli ba. 
He blows his horn both loud and shrill. 
The wind hath blown my plaid awa.** 

The principal subjects of the dialogue are the knight's 
proposed condition to have a shirt made without shears, 
needle, or thread ; and the maid's answer, that he should 
ear an acre of land with a horn, &c., all which is much 
better expressed in a Httle English song, sung by children 
and nursery maids, t 

The restoration of King Charles II., however grateful 
it might be to a people always strongly attached to their 
hereditary monarchy, does not appear to have been much 
celebrated by the muses, nor, violent as were the party 
convulsions, and numerous and important the events of 
that reign, has it been found to aflford a single song on 

* It likewise contains the ditty called " What if a day," already 
mentioned, with the music, 
t See Gammer Gurton's " Garland," p. 11. 


56 HISTORICAL ESSAY ON 

any historical or political subject The Whigs, indeed, 
were addicted solely to prayer and psalm singing, and 
the Tories too generous, perhaps, to insult so contempt- 
ible an adversary, by satirical ballads. 

King James VII. was undoubtedly, both before and 
after his accession, a popular character in Scotland ; and 
" The 14th of October*' (his birth-day) is still a favourite 
tune. Neither did the imprudence of his religious zeal, 
which lost him the government of three kingdoms, for- 
feit the esteem of the people. Averse as they might in 
general be to his religious tenets, they could not but 
esteem the lineal descendant of a family which had fur- 
nished the country with sovereigns for upwards of a 
thousand years ; and the justice of whose expulsion was 
far. from manifest. The battle of Killikrankie, fought in 
1689, is the subject of a song in the following collection, 
which may be regarded as the first of the numerous series 
now called " Jacobite songs." 

An inundation of " Scotch songs," so called, appears 
to have been poured upon the town by Tom D'Urfey, 
and his Grub Street brethren, toward the end of the last 
and in the beginning of the present century ; of which, 
though doubtless highly grateful to the refined taste of 
the times, it is hard to say whether wretchedness of 
poetry, ignorance of the Scotish dialect, or nastiness of 
ideas, is most evident or most despicable. In the num- 
ber of these miserable caricatures, the reader may be a 
little surprised to find the favourite songs of " De'ill 
take the War that hurry'd Willy from me;" " O Jenny, 
Jenny, where hast thou been?" "Young Philander 
woo'd me lang;" "Farewell my bonny, witty, pretty 


^s^mii^9^9^^ 


SCOTISH SONG. 57 

Moggy;" "In January last;" "She rose and let me 
in ;" " Pretty Kate of Edinburgh f " As I sat at my 
Spinning-wheel j" "Fife and a' the Lands about it;" 
" Bonny Lad, prithee lay thy Pipe down ;" " The bonny 
grey-eyed Mom;" " 'Twas within a Furlong of Edinburgh 
Town ;" " Bonny Dundee ;" " O'er the Hills and far 
away;" " By Moonlight on the Green;" "What's that 
to youf and several others, which he has been prob- 
ably used to consider as genuine specimens of Scotish 
song; as indeed most of them are regarded even in 
Scotland.* 

The insurrection, in 17 15, of the adherents to the 
person whom his friends called James VIIL, and his 
enemies the pretender, but who, in any case, was the 
legitimate son of King James VII., seems to have roused 
the poetic even more than the military spirit of the 
Scots. Many songs were composed on this event, of 
which some of those which have been preserved will not 
be found destitute of merit. 

In the year 17 19, the celebrated poem or ballad of 

* See D*Urfey*s " Pills to Purge Melancholy," passim. In vol. 
iv, is "A Scotch Song. The words by Mr John Hallam. Set to 
music by Mr John Cottrell," beginning, " Upon the wings of love, 
my dear, I come;" and in the next volume is another, " the words 
by Mr Peter Noble ; set by Mr John Wilford," beginning " Bonny 
Scottish lads that keens me weel." 

" She rose and let me in," however, ought not to be confounded 
with the rest, as it is an English song of great merit, and has been 
Scotified by the Scots themselves. The modem air, a fine compo- 
sition, (probably by Oswald,) is very different from that in the 
" Pills." " De'ill take the Wars," written by D'Urfey, and sung in 
"A Wife for any Man," Mr Tytler classes in his "third sera, — 
from Queen Mary to the Restoration." 


58 HISTORICAL ESS A V ON 

" Hardyknute" first appeared, at Edinburgh, as a " frag- 
ment," in a folio pamphlet of twelve pages. That it is 
of no greater antiquity must be perfectly clear, from 
every species of evidence, intrinsic or extrinsic, and 
the only means of reconciling the seemingly opposite 
accounts of its birth, is to conclude it the illegitimate 
offspring of Mrs Wardlaw, by Sir John Bruce.* The 
two stanzas beginning, " Aryse, zoung knicht," the three 
beginning, " Now with his ferss and stalwart train," the 
two beginning, " Sair bleids my leige,'* the six beginning, 
'* Quhair lyke a fyre," and the three last, are not in the 
first edition, (which was reprinted in four leaves, 8vo,) 
but originally appeared in the " Ever Green," in which 
many different readings are' given, and Ramsay, to con- 
firm the authenticity of the whole, has everywhere changed 
the initial y to 0. That a composition abounding with 
evident imitations of, and direct allusions to modem and 
familiar poetry,t in short, that a palpable and bungling 

* The former pretended to have found it written on " the bottoms 
of clues,'* the other "in a vault at Dumfermline. " See Dr Percy's 
"Reliques," &c., vol. ii., pp. 96, iii; ''Ancient Scotish Poems," 
vol. i., p. 127. Mr Thomson, the Scotish musician, finding the 
cause to stick, as the Turks say, or, in other words, the tide of sus- 
picion running very strong against it, declared, like a hardy Scot, 
that "he had heard fragments of it repeated during his infancy, 
before ever Mrs Wardlaw's copy was heard of,** though there is 
not a single line, not stolen from some old ballad, that has the 
most distant appearance of having existed before. The evidence of 
Ossian*s witnesses is exactly like that of Mr Thomson. 

t " Drinking the blude-reid wine.** — Stan, s, 1. 8. 
" Drinking the blude-reid wine.**— Sir Patrick Spbncb. 
*' Full twenty thousand glittering spears.*' — Stan. 6, 1. 3. 
** Full twenty thousand Scottish spears." — Chevy Chase. 


SCOTISH SONG. 59 

forgery, without the slightest resemblance of anything 
ancient or original, should have passed, either in Eng- 
land or Scotland, for a genuine relique of antiquity, 
would appear almost incredible and miraculous, if there 
were not subsequent instances of a similar delusion. 
Why the Scotish literati should be more particularly 
addicted to literary imposition than those of any other 
country, might be a curious subject of investigation for 
their new Royal Society. Dr Johnson, indeed, is of 
opinion that " a Scotchman must be a very sturdy mo- 
ralist, who does not love Scotland better than truth ; he 
will always love it," he says, " better than inquiry; and 
if falsehood flatters his vanity, will not be very diligent 
to detect it." He is speaking of another forgery — the 

" Then furth he drew his trusty glaive, 
Quhyle thousands all around, 
Drawn frae their sheaths, glanst in the sun.'*— Stan. 21. 

" He spake : and to confirm his words outflew 
Millions of flaming swords, drawn from the thighs 
Of mighty cherubim ; the sudden blaze 
Far round illumin'd hell.'* — Milton. 

The author, either through ignorance or from affectation, uses 
Britain and Britons as synonymous with England and English ; 
and the editor of " Scotish Tragic Ballads/* (1781,) has had the im- 
pudence to assert, that " this [last] was the common name which 
the Scots gave the English anciently, as may be observed in their 
old poets ; and particularly * Blind Harry :' " though the " Life of 
Wallace" is a common book, in which the word Britons is not to be 
found. 

Mr Tytler, however, seems to consider " Hardyknute" as authen- 
tic. " All our old heroic ballads," says he, "such as * Hardiknute,' 
and others, were undotibtedly sung to chants composed for them, 
which are now lost" The truth, indeed, seems too well ascertained 
to admit of a doubt; the Scotish critics should recollect an excellent 
old maxim — ** De nan apparentilms et de non existentibus eadem est 
ratio,^* 


6o HISTORICAL ESS A Y ON 

poems of Ossian. However this may be, the fact is 
incontestable; and the forgeries of Hector Boethius, 
David Chalmers, George Buchanan, Thomas Dempster, 
Sir John Bruce, William Lauder, Archibald Bower, James 
Macpherson, and John Pinkerton, stamp a disgrace upon 
the national character, which ages of exceptionless in- 
tegrity will be required to remove; an era, however, 
which, if one may judge from the detestation in which 
the most infamous and despicable of these impostors is 
universally held, has already commenced. 

In the year 1724, Allan Ramsay, a barber in Edin- 
burgh, first published "The Tea-table Miscellany; or, 
A Collection of Choice Songs, Scots and English ;" to 
which we are indebted for the preservation of several 
old Scotish songs of great merit, of which no earlier 
copies are now to be found, as well as for many excel- 
lent originals written, as it seems, either by himself or 
others, purposely for this publication. Ramsay was a 
man of strong natural parts, and a fine poetical genius, 
of which his celebrated pastoral, "The Gentle Shep- 
herd,*' will ever remain a substantial monument ; and 
though some of his songs may be deformed by far- 
fetched allusions and pitiful conceits, "The Lass of 
Peattie's Mill," "The Yellow-Hair'd Laddie," "Fare- 
well to Lochaber," and some others, must be allowed 
equal to any, and even superior, in point of pastoral 
simplicity, to most lyric productions, either in the Scot- 
ish or any other language.* As an editor, he is, per- 

* It is somewhat strange that Mr Tytler, knowing both when 
Ramsay began to write, and the songs of which he is the author^ 
should consider several of his undoubted compositions among the 


SCOTISff SONG. 6i 

haps, reprehensible, not only on account of the liberties 
he appears to have taken with many of the earlier pieces 
he published, in printing them with additions,* which 
one is unable to distinguish, but also for preferring 
songs written by himself, or the " ingenious young gen- 
tlemen '^ who assisted him, to ancient and original words, 
which would, in many cases, all circumstances consi- 
dered, have been probably superior, or, at least, much 
more curious, and which are now irretrievable, f In 

fine songs which ''we may almost with certainty pronounce to have 
been made'' within his 'Mast sera — that is, from the Restoration to 
the Union.' 

* He marks the following pieces with the letter Z as "old 
songs:"— "Muirland Willie/' "Scomfu' Nancy," "Male's 
Tocher," « For the Love of Jean," " The Blythsome Bridal," " Fint 
aXrum of Thee she faws," " The Auld Goodman," " The Shepherd 
Adonis," "John Ochiltree," "In January last," "General Lesl/s 
March," "The Deceiver," (English,) "Todlen But, and todlen Ben," 
" Rob's Jock,'* " Country Lass," " Waly, waly," " O'er the HiUsand 
far away," " Norland Jocky and Southland Jenny ;" the following 
with Q as " old songs, with additions : " — " Lucky Nancy," " Auld 
Rob Marris,'' " Ew Bughts Marrion," " Omnia vincit amor^' " The 
Auld Wife beyont the Fire," " Sleepy Body," "Jocky, blyth and 
gay," " Had away from me, Donald," " The Peremptory Lover,"* 
"What's that to you?" ** Jocky fou, Jenny fain," "Jenny, where 
has' thou been ? " Some indisputably old songs, however, are printed 
without either of these letters. 

t Every reader of taste or sentiment will regret that he should 
have preferred his own trifling stanzas to the original of a song 
founded on the following anecdote : — " The celebrated * Bessie Bell 
and Mary Gray' are buried near Lednoch. The common tradition 
is, that the father of the former was laird of Kinvaid, in the neigh- 
bourhood of Lednoch, and the father of the latter laird of Lednoch; 

* The enlargement of this song seems to have been intrusted to one of his 
Irish journeymen, the additions consisting in the omissum of three whole 
stanzas. 


62 HISTORICAL ESS A Y ON 

short, Ramsay would seem to have had too high an 
opinion of his own poetry, to be a diligent or faithful 
publisher of any other person's.* Among the contribu- 

that these two young ladys were both very handsome, [and] a most 
intimate friendship subsisted between them ; that while Miss BeU 
was on a visit to Miss Gray the plague broke out, in the year 1666, 
jn order to avoid which they built themselves a bower, about three- 
quarters of a mile west from Lednoch House, in a very retired and 
romantic place, called Bum Braes, on the side of Brauchie Bum. 
Here they lived for some time, but the plague raging with great 
fury, they caught the infection, it is said, from a young gentleman 
who was in love with them both, and here they died. The burial- 
place lies about half a mile west from the present house of Led- 
noch," (** Muses' Threnodie," p. 19, 1774.) The first four, or per- 
haps eight, lines of Ramsay's song are supposed to be taken from 
the original, with which it seems to be confounded by Mr Pennant, 
(" Tour in Scotland in 1772,") part ii., p. 112) — 

" O Bessy Bell and Mary Gray, 

They are twa bonny lasses, 
They bigg'd a bower on yon bum-brae, 

And theck'd it o'er wi' rashes. 
Fair Bessy Bell I loo'd yestreen, 

And thought I ne'er couM alter, 
But Mary Gray's twa pawky een, 

They gar my fancy falter." 

"We should likewiFe have been much more indebted to him for the 
insertion of the elegant ballad of " Gilderoy," than of an English 
song, beautiful as it may be, to the same tune. If Sir Alexander 
Halket were actually the author of this ballad, its age may be pro- 
bably ascertained ; it was certainly written before the present cen- 
tury. Mr Tytler says it was made on the death of a famous outlaw 
hanged by James V,, an assertion, however, which it expressly 
contradicts. He appears, in fact, from Spalding's account, to have 
been a sort of chief or leader of the proscribed Clan Gregor, and, 
"with five other lymmars," to have been hanged at Edinburgh in 
the month of July 1636. 

♦ He is, however, very inconsistently censured by a late writer, 
who has stuffed two despicable volumes of what he is pleased to 
call "the very best of Scotish ballad poetry," not only with the 


SCOTISH SONG. 63 

tors to this collection, which, except the musical publi- 
cation at Aberdeen, is supposed to be the first that ever 
appeared of Scotish songs,* was a gentleman of the name 
of Crawford, of the family of Auchnames ; whom the 
pastoral beauties and elegant language of " Tweedside," 
and the pathetic tenderness of " My Deary, an ye die," 
will ever place in the first rank of lyric poets, t In this 
list we also find Mr Hamilton of Bangour, an elegant 
writer, whose " Braes of Yarrow" will be long admired, J 
and Mr Mallet, (then Malloch,) to whom we owe two 

most infamous forgery,' (of which Ramsay cannot be accused,) but 
with a variety of his own unnatural productions, compared to which 
the bathos of Ramsay is perfect sublimity — 

" Thou write pindaricks, and be damn*d !" 

* A few are printed, but very incorrectly, in ** A Collection 01 
Scots PoerriS," 1 706, &c. 

+ The editor confesses that the omission of " Down the Bum, 
Davie,** (which Mr Tytler has conjectured a composition of the 
space of time "from Queen Mary to the Restoration," as he has 
done other songs of this gentleman to have been made within his 
"last sera — from the Restoration to the Union,") though inten- 
tional, has not been without regret. 

X Dr Percy ("Reliques of Ancient English Poetry," vol. ii., p. 
371, 1775) observes, that "The Braes of Yarrow" was written in 
imitation of an old Scotish ballad on a similar subject, with the 
same burden to each stanza. The author, indeed, expressly avows 
it to be "in imitation of the ancient Scotish manner;" but both 
these assertions have been doubted. Mr Tytler, however, mentions 
" Busk ye, busk ye, my bonny Bride," among the songs and tragic 
ballads within his second epochs — that is, "from the beginning of 
the reign of King James IV., James V., and to the end of that of 
Queen Mary" — which, to those who never heard of any other bal- 
lad of this description than that by Mr Hamilton, who died in 
1754, will appear somewhat extraordinary. It is not, however, 
always easy to know when Mr Tytler is speaking of the words, and 
when he means only the melodies of the songs he mentions. There 


64 HISTORICAL ESS A V ON 

beautiful stanzas, " The Shades of Endermay/' and one 
of the finest ballads that ever were written.* 

Joseph Mitchell, who died in 1738, maybe mentioned 
as a song writer of very inferior merit ; none of his com- 
positions deserving to be rescued from oblivion. The 
beautiful pastoral of " Robin and Nanny," by Lord Bin- 
ning, will cause every reader to regret that it is the only 
song of that promising young nobleman's composition 
known to be extant. 

The gallant attempt made by a delicate young prince 
to recover the throne of his ancestors, in 1745, seems to 
have been hailed by the Scotish muse with her most 

are, indeed, a few stanzas preserved of a ballad ** to the tune of 
* Leader Haughs and Yarrow,' " which have some merit, although 
its origin or antiquity cannot be ascertained. 

" I dream'd a dreary dream last light — 
God keep us a' frae sorrow ! 
I dream'd I pu'd the birk sae green 
Wi* my true luve on Yarrow. 

" ' 1 *11 read your dream, my sister dear, 
I *11 tell you a* your sorrow : 
You pu'd the birk wi' your true luve ; 
He's kill'd, he's kiU'd en Yarrow.* 

** O gentle wind, that bloweth south 
To where my love repaireth. 
Convey a kiss from his dear mouth, 
And tell me how he fareth ! 

' But o'er yon glen run arm'd men, 
Have wrought me dule and sorrow ; 
They've slain, they've slain the comliest swain ; 
He bleeding lies in Yarrow." 

* Ramsay, at the end of a separate edition of "William and 
Margaret," observes, ** This ballad will sing to the tunes of ** Mon- 
trose's Lines," "Rothe's Lament," or "The Isle of Kell;" and 
yet Thomson, not above three years after, publishes it as ^^znold 
Scotch ballad with the original Scotch tune." 


SCOTISH SONG. 65 

brilliant strains. On no occasion did ever such a multi- 
tude of songs appear, of which several are among the 
finest specimens of l3nical composition. " The Tears of 
Scotland," in particular, by Dr Smollett, is, for pathetic 
sentiment and elegant versification, certainly not excelled 
by an5rthing that ever was, or ever will be, written in any 
language whatever. An ode, likewise, by Mr Hamilton 
of Bangour, on the victory at Gladsmuir, has great poet- 
ical merit. Neither of these poems, however, though 
both have been set to music, seems in strictness to fall 
within the description of a song, as they belong, in fact, 
to a superior class of poetry. A few select pieces will 
be found in the present collection; but it is beUeved 
that numbers of equal or superior merit have either 
perished, or are not now to be met with in print.* To 
offer any apology for the republication of these political 
effusions would be to insult those who might be sus- 
pected to require it. The rival claims of Stewart and 
Brunswick are not more to the present generation than 
those of Bruce and Baliol, or York and Lancaster. The 
question of right has been submitted to the arbitration 
of the SWORD, and is now irrevocably decided ; but nei- 
ther that decision, nor any other motive, should deter 
the historian from doing justice to the character of those 
brave men who fell in a cause which they, at least, 

* The editor has heard a few lines of a fine parody of ** Rule 

Britannia," of which he could never obtain a copy. The chorus 

ran thus — 

" Rise, Britannia, Britannia, rise and fight ! 

Restore your injured monarch's riji^ht." 

The original words seem to have been inserted in the *' Loyal 
Songs" (1750) by mistake. 

B 


66 HISTORICAL ESSA V ON 

thought right, and which others, perhaps, only think 
wrong, as it proved unsuccessful.* 

Robertson of Struan, who died aged in 1749, ought to 
be regarded as the poet of an earlier period. The few 
songs he has left, though far unequal to his beautiful and 
pathetic elegies, are by no means destitute of merit, t 
Smollett, who has been already mentioned, is the author 
of two most elegant songs. The few written by Thom- 
son would, perhaps, have done greater credit to a genius 
of less magnitude, but are by no means unworthy of him. 
Mallet, too, who new wrote the masque of "Alfred," 
which was originally the joint composition of himself 
and Thomson, has enriched his alteration with a few 
songs that might have procured celebrity to any but the 
author of " William and Margaret" 

Alexander Ross, author of the "Fortunate Shep- 
herdess," and living at the time of its publication in 
1768, must have been very aged, if the tune of " A Rock 
and a Wee Pickle Tow," mentioned by Ramsay, allude 
to the song he then printed. The only fault of this 
humorous performance is its great length, which has 

* It is judiciously observed by the patriotic Fletcher, that ** as 
the most just and honourable enterprises, when they fail, are 
accounted in the number of rebellions, so all attempts, however 
unjust, if they succeed, always purge themselves of all guilt and 
imputation*' — an observation which might be sufficiently illustrated 
by English history. It had been already made, indeed, by Sir John 
Harington — 

" Treason does never prosper. What 's the reason ? 
For if it prosper none dare call it treason/' 

t There are several ascribed to him in the ** Scots Musical 
Museum/' which are not in his *' Poems," (1749.) He is also said 
to have composed a great many in the Erse language. 


SCOTISH SONG. 67 

induced former editors to retrench no fewer than fourteen 
stanzas ; unless, indeed, they were added after the original 
publication. The dialect he uses is broad Buchans, 
which considerably heightens the ludicrous turn of his 
composition. 

The history of Scotish poetry exhibits a series of fraud, 
forgery, and imposture, practised with impunity and suc- 
cess. The ballad of "Gil Morrice" was printed, for the 
second time, at Glasgow, in 1755, with an advertisement, 
setting forth, " that its preservation was owing to a lady, 
who favoured the printers with a copy, as it was care- 
fully collected from the mouths of old women and 
nurses ;" and " any reader that can render it more cor- 
rect or complete," is desired to oblige the public with 
such improvements. In consequence of this advertise- 
ment, as we learn from Dr Percy, no less than sixteen 
additional verses were produced and handed about in 
manuscript, which that editor, though he conjectures 
them after all to be only an ingenious interpolation, has 
inserted in their proper places. These are, he says, 
from verse 109 to 121, and from verse 124 to 129.* The 
doctor assures us, that in his ancient folio MS. " is a very 
old imperfect copy of the same ballad : wherein, though 
the leading features of the story are the same, yet the 
colouring here is so much improved and heightened, and 
so many additional strokes are thrown in, that it is evi- 
dent the whole has undergone a revisal." This MS.,, 
we are told, instead of "Lord Barnard/* has "John 

* It should seem from this as if the learned prelate had been 
satisfied of the authenticity of the three last stanzas, which bear the 
strongest possible marks of illegitimacy. 


68 HISTORICAL ESS A Y ON 

Stewart/' and instead of " Gil Morrice," " Child Mau- 
rice, which last is probably the original title." This 
" little pathetic tale" is said to have " suggested the plot 
of the tragedy of * Douglas ;' " and Dr Percy " had been 
assured that the ballad is still current in many parts of 
Scotland, where the hero is universally known by the 
name of Child Maurice, pronounced by the common 
people Cheild or Cheeld ; which," says he, " occasioned 
the mistake." The original stanzas, even as the ballad 
is now printed, may be easily distinguished from the 
interpolations; great part of the latter being a more 
evident and pitiful forgery than " Hardyknute," which, 
with another modem production, the interpolator has 
had the folly or impudence to imitate or transcribe.* 

* " The baron he is a man of might. 
He neir could bide to taunt, 
As ze will see before its nicht 
How sma' ze hae to vaunt ** — Stan. 6. 

'' Aft Britain's blude has dimd its shyne, 
This poynt cut short their vaunt, 
Syne pierced the bolster's bairded cheik, 
Nae tyme he tuek to taunt/' — Hardyknuie. 

** The boy was clad in robes of green." — Stan. 15. 

** The boy put on his robes, his robes of green." — Braes of Yarrow. 

*' And like the mavis on the bush. 

He gart the vallies ring." — Stan. 15. 

** I sang, my voice the woods retundng.**'-Braes of Varrow. 

** He sang so sweet it might dispel 
A' rage but fell despair."— Stan. x6. 

" Vernal delight and joy : able to drive 
All sadness but despair."—- Milton. 

" Obraid me not, my lord Barnard ! 
Obraid me not for shame."— Stan. 93. 

** My brother Douglas may upbraid."— ^ro^j qf Yarrow. 


SCOTISH SONG. 69 

The merit of Dr Blacklock's song, "The Braes of 
Ballendine," is considerably enhanced by the circum- 
stance under which it was composed — a total privation 
of sight Mr Falconer, the ingenious and unfortunate 
author of that excellent descriptive poem, " The Ship- 
wreck," has left a pretty song, which will be found in 
the present collection ; another, it was thought less ne- 
cessary to insert, occurs in the "St James's Magazine" 


" To me nae after days nor nichts 

Will eir be saft or kiad." — Stan. 24. 

" To me nae after day nor nicht 

Can eir be swcit or Uxc^^Hardyknute. 

" With waefou wae I heard zour plaints—Stan. 9^^ I. i. 
" Quhat wae fou wae her bewtie hte&y^'Hardyknute. 

" Had gard his body bleid." — Stan. 25, 1. 4. 
•* He gard his body bleid."— ^(an/j'^««/^. 

" Dry up zour tears, my winsom dame, 
Ye neir can heal the wound/'— Stan. 25. 

" Return and dry thy useless sorrow ; 
Busk ye, busk ye, ray winsome marrow." — Braes of Yarrow. 

" Ye see his head upon the spear. 

His heart's blude on the ground." — Stan. 25. 

*' My luver's blude is on thy speir." — Braes of Yarrow. 

" I curse the hand that did the deid," &c.— Stan. 26. 

*' Curse ye, curse ye, his useless useless shield. 

My arm that wrought the deid of sorrow," is^.'^Braes of Yarrow. 

** The comely zouth to kill."— Stan. 26, 1. 4. 

'* 'Tis he the comely swain I slew." — Braes of Yarrow. 

Many lines, and indeed entire stanzas, of this ballad occur also in 
two inedited ones, entitled "Jack, the Little Scot," and **Lady 
Maisery." 


70 HISTORICAL ESSAY ON 

for October 1762, and is there said to be "written at 
sea." The first stanza is as follows : — 

" A nymph of every charm possess'd 

That native virtue gives, 
Within my hosom all confessed. 

In bright idea lives. 
For her my trembling numbers play 

Along the pathless deep, 
While sadly social with my lay 

The winds in concert weep." 

Mr Home, author of the tragedy of " Douglas," is also 
to be numbered in the list of Scotish song writers ; but 
it must be confessed that " The Banks of the Dee" * has 
lost much of its popularity, though surely nothing of its 
merit, since the " valiant Jemmy" failed to " quell the 
proud rebels." That Jemmy's ghost now wanders on 
those banks, instead of his person, might be no impro- 
per or unpathetic subject for a second part. 

Dr Alexander Webster is to be noticed as the author 
of a song of much merit, beginning — 

** O how shall I venture to love one like thee?" 

A collection (by Mr D. Herd) was published at Edin- 
burgh in 1769, under the title of "The Ancient and 
Modem Scots Songs, Heroic Ballads, &a, now collected 
into one body, from the various miscellanies wherein 
they formerly lay dispersed;" of which a second edi- 
tion, in two volumes, appeared in 1776. To this, though 

* This song being written to the Irish air of ** Langolee/' a late 
writer says that " such a theft cannot be too severely condemned, 
as if persisted in there is an end of aU national music " — an opinion 
which must be allowed to come with peculiar propriety from one 
who has been, guilty of every species of forgery and imposition. 
There is no theft in the case ; and to accuse an air of impurity is 
completely absurd. 


SCOTISIf SOAG. 71 

not so judiciously selected or arranged as it might have 
been, and containing many confessedly English songs, a 
few supposititious ballads, and several pieces unworthy 
of preservation, we are certainly indebted for a number 
of excellent and genuine compositions never before 
printed, as the editor of the present collection is bound 
in gratitude to acknowledge. 

Robert Fergusson, who died in 1774, is the author of 
two tolerably pretty love songs, which may be found 
among his poems. Robert Bums, a natural poet of the 
first eminence, does not, perhaps, appear to his usual 
advantage in song — nvn omnia fossumus. The political 
" fragment," as he calls it, inserted in the second volume 
of the present collection, has, however, much merit in 
some of the satirical stanzas, and could it have been 
concluded with the spirit with which it is commenced, 
would indisputably have been entitled to great praise ; 
but the character of his favourite minister seems to have 
operated like the touch of a torpedo ; and after vainly 
attempting something like a panegyric, he seems under 
the necessity of relinquishing the task. Possibly the 
bard will one day see occasion to complete his perform- 
ance as a uniform satire.* 

Messrs Picken, Galloway, Fisher, and Shirrefs, each of 
whom has published a volume of his poetical works, are 
to be numbered among the writers of Scotish songs; 

* Mr Boms, as good a poet as Ramsay, is, it must be regretted, 
an equally licentious and un&ithful publisher of the performances of 
others. Many of the original, old, ancient, genuine songs inserted 
in Johnson's " Scots Musical Museum" derive not a little of their 
merit from passing through the hands of this very ingenious critic. 


72 HISTORICAL ESS A Y ON 

and others, perhaps, of equal celebrity, might be found, 
if necessary, to increase the list. 

The public curiosity was a good deal excited by the 
publication of a volume of " Scottish tragic ballads," as 
they are called, in 1781 ; the performance, it appeared, 
of Mr John Pinkerton, who had already rendered him- 
self pretty remarkable by some very extraordinary poet- 
ical rhapsodies, now deservedly forgotten. This volume 
was ushered in with two " dissertations," in which there 
is a strange jumble of all sorts of reading, and a variety 
of extravagant assertion, very little, it must be confessed, 
to the purpose of the work in hand, or, indeed, to any 
other. The most prominent feature in this little volume 
is the studied and systematic forgery that pervades the 
whole. " The mutilated fragment of * Hardyknute,' " of 
which a second part now first saw the light, and both 
clothed in aflfectedly antique orthography, is said to be 
" given in its original perfection," and, with equal truth 
and modesty, pronounced " the most noble production 
in this style that ever appeared in the world : " the editor 
professing himself " indebted for most of the stanzas now 
recovered, to the memory of a lady in Lanarkshire;" and 
asserting that the common people of that province could 
"repeat scraps of both parts." "A few other monu- 
ments of ancient Scottish poetry," he adds, " are now first 
published from tradition." These are, "The Laird of 
Woodhouselie," "Lord Livingston," "Binnorie," "The 
Death of Menteith," and " I wish I were where Helen 
lies :" of the forgery of which pieces, as well as of the 
second part of " Hardyknute," and two pretended frag- 
ments, the author, in a subsequent publication, (but not 


SCOTISH SONG. 73 

till he had been directly accused by a letter in the 
"Gentleman's Magazine,"*) confessed himself guilty. 
"This man," is what the courtesy of the age calls a 
gentleman, and yet, to borrow his own words, "if he 
had used the same freedom in a private business which 
he has in poetry, he would have been set on the pil- 
lory :"t and, in fact, "to call such an infamous impos- 
tor by his very worst but true title, were but justice to 
society." % 

It is remarkable that some of the finest lyric compo- 
sitions of Scotland have been produced by the fair sex. 
Lady Grissel Baillie is the author of a pathetic ballad, 
which is said by an eminent and judicious writer to be 
" executed with equal truth and strength of colouring." 
Few songs in any language are equal to the " Flowers of 

♦ For November 1784. Had this letter (upon which the editor 
of that work, out of his singular urbanUy, allowed the oUprit the 
extraordinary privilege of making false and evasive comments pre- 
vious to its publication) never appeared, these contemptible forgeries 
would have continued to disgrace the annals of Scotish poetry, till 
at least .the pretence of antiquity had proved too slight a buoy to 
support the weight of their intrinsic dulness. 

+ «* Enquiry," &c., vol. i. p. 241. 

t "Ancient Scotish Poems,'* vol. i. p. ci., (1786.) Of this 
shocking propensity to forgery and falsehood, (for every imposition 
has a lie or two in its support,) he gave reiterated proofs in a second 
volume of "Comic Ballads," published along with a new edition of 
the first in 1783. In palliation of his crime, in the true spirit of a 
''lastdjdng speech," he pleads his youth and purity of intention, 
professing that **the imposition was only to give pleasure to the 
public" For "as to the vanity," adds he, "or pleasure of impos- 
ing upon others, if there be such ideas, they are quite unknown to 
the editor" — all which, it is to be hoped, he has found some chari- 
table person disposed to believe. 


74 HISTORICAL ESSA Y ON 

Yarrow/' by Miss Home;* while the elegant and accom- 
plished authoress of "Auld Robin Gray" has, in this 
beautiful production, to all that tenderness and sim- 
plicity for which the Scotish song has been so much 
celebrated, united a delicacy of expression which it 
never before attained.t We may, therefore, conclude 
that this species of composition, which has been car- 
ried to the utmost perfection, must either cease or de- 
generate. 

Though the merit of the Scotish songs is generally 
allowed, it cannot be pretended that they possess any 
uniformity of excellence. Such as have been composed 

* If it be to this lady (now Mrs Hunter) that we are also indebted 
for " The Death-Song of the Cherokee Indian/* one can scarcely 
teU whether to admire most the genius that could produce two such 
masterly and opposite compositions, or the indifference which occa- 
sions this note. 

' + The writer, of whom so much notice has been already taken, 
after observing that none of the " Scotch amatory ballads," as he 
remembers, "are written by ladies," and that the ** profligacy of 
manners which always reigns before women can so utterly forget all 
sense of decency and propriety as to commence authors, is yet 
almost unknown in Scotland,'* adds, in a note, that " there is, 
indeed, of very late years one insignificant exception to this rule : 
* Auld Robin Gray,* having got his silly psalm set to soporific 
music, is, to the credit of our taste, popular for the day ; but, after 
lulling some good-natured audiences asleep, he will soon fall asleep 
himself" Alas! this ** silly psalm*' will continue to be sung, "to 
the credit of our taste,'* long after the author of this equaUy ridicu- 
lous and malignant paragraph (whose most virulent censure is indeed 
the highest praise) shall be as completely forgotten as yesterday's 
ephemeron, and his printed trash be only occasionally discernible at 
the bottom of a pie. Of the twenty-four Scotish song- writers whose 
names are preserved, four, if not five, are females, and, as poetesses, 
two more might be added to the number. 


SCOTISH SONG. 75 

by persons of education, conversant with the poetry of 
other countries^ though occasionally superior, will more 
frequently be found inferior, to English compositions. 
We have many songs equal, no doubt, to the best of 
those written by Hamilton of Bangour, or Mr Thomson ; 
though it may be questioned whether any English writer 
has produced so fine a ballad as "William and Mar- 
garet," or such a beautiful pastoral as "Tweedside." 
The truth is, that there is more of art than of nature 
in the English songs; at all events, they possess very 
little of that pastoral simplicity for which the Scotish are 
so much admired, and which will be frequently found to 
give them the advantages which the beautiful peasant, 
in her homespun russet, has over the fine town lady, 
patched, powdered, and dressed out for the ball or opera 
in all the frippery of fashion. 

One cannot, however, adduce the performance of 
scholars and distinguished individuals as specimens of 
national song. The genuine and peculiar natural song 
of Scotland is to be sought, not in the works of Hamil- 
ton, Thomson, Smollett, or even Ramsay, but in the 
productions of obscure or anon)rmous authors, of shep- 
herds and milk-maids, who actually felt the sensations 
they describe — of those, in short, who were destitute of 
all the advantages of science and education, and per- 
haps incapable of committing the pure inspirations of 
nature to writing f and in this point of view, it is be- 

* That songs have been composed by fiddlers, we have the express 

testimony of Allan Ramsay, in his '^ Elegy on Patie Bimie," where 

he says — 

" Your honour's father dead and gane. 

For him he first wa'd make his mane ; _ 


76 HISTORICAL ESS A Y ON 

lieved, the English have nothing equal in merit, nor in 
fact anything of the kind. The songs to which one 
may refer as proofs of this position, and give as speci- 
mens of the native song of Scotland, are — " Ewbughts 
Marrion,'' "The Lowlands of Holland," " Etrick 
Banks," " Flowden Hill," " The Silken-snooded Lassie," 
" Here awa', there awa'," " My Heart 's my Ain," " As I 
was a-Walking ae May Morning," " Sweet Annie fra the 
Sea-beach came," " Willy 's rare," " Waly, waly," " Cock 
Laird," " My Joe Janet," " Hooly and Fairly," « Get Up 
and Bar the Door," " Maggie's Tocher," « Muirland Wil- 
lie," and others of the like kind, of which numbers, it is 
believed, have never been collected, or perhaps never 
written. The irregular style and pathetic simplicity of 
one species, and the ludicrous gaiety of the other, are 
equally natural and interesting ; and though many imi- 
tations of these peculiarities, by writers of a different 
description, have been very happy and successful, they 
are not the less characteristic of the originals, which 
abound with touches of nature and simplicity not to be 
paralleled in more laboured or regular productions. 

But soon his face cou'd make ye fain 

When he did sough — 
'O wiltu, wiltu do*t again?' 

And gran'd and leugh. 

' ' This sang he made fra his ain head, 
And eke, "The auld man's mare she's dead. 
Though peats and tures and a's to lead ; '' 

O fy upon her ! 
A bonny auld thing this indeed, 

An*t like yer honour. 

" He boasted," according to the note, ** of being a poet as well as a 
musician." This latter song, however, has been ascribed in print to 
a Mr Watt. 


SCO! ISH SONG. 77 

There are in Scotland many ballads, or legendary and 
romantic songs, composed in a singular style, and pre- 
served by tradition among the country people ; some of 
these* will be found inserted in Mr Herd's collection of 
"Scots Songs;" and for a collection of others,t not 
hitherto published, the editor of these volumes is in- 
debted to the liberality and politeness of Alexander 
Fraser Tytler, Esq. It must, however, be confessed, 
that none of these compositions bear satisfactory marks 
of the antiquity they pretend to, while the expressions 
or allusions occurring in some would seem to fix their 
origin to a very modem date. But, in fact, with respect 
to vulgar poetry preserved by tradition, it is almost im- 
possible to discriminate the ancient from the modern, 
the true from the false. Obsolete phrases will be per- 
petually changing for those better understood ; and what 
the memory loses the invention must supply. So that a 
performance of genius and merit, as the purest stream 
becomes polluted by the foulness of its channel, may in 
time be degraded to the vilest jargon. Tradition, in 

• "BothweU," "Fine Flowers o' the VaUey," "Lizie Wan," 
" May Colvin," " The Wee, Wee Man," " Sir Hugh," and « The 
Jew's Daughter," (different copies,) "Earl Douglas," (a fragment,) 
"Lammikin," "The Bonny Lass of Lochroyan," "Kertonha'," 
" Clerk Colvill," " WUUe and Annet," " The Cruel Knight," " Wha 
will Bake my Bridal Bread !" " Lizae Baillie," " Good Morrow, fair 
Mistress," " Duncan," and " Kenneth," are clearly supposititious. 

+ These are—" Willie's Lady," " Clark Colven," (a different 
copy,) "Brown Adam," "Jack the Little Scot," "Chil' Brenton,'' 
" The Gay Gosshawk," " Young Bekie," " Rose the Red and White 
Lillie," " Brown Robin," « Willie o'," " Douglass Dale," " Kem- 
pion," " Lady Elspat," " King Henry," " Lady Maisery," and 
"The Cruel Sister." 


78 HISTORICAL ESS A V ON 

short, is a species of alchemy which converts gold to 
lead. The most favourable specimens of this species of 
old Scotish ballad are probably — '* Willie and Annet," 
'* The Cruel Knight/* and the two fragments, " Wha will 
Bake my Bridal Bread?" and " Good Morrow, fair Mis- 
tress, the beginner of strife." Few of the others will 
bear publication, being rather remarkable by a sort of 
wild whimsical puerility of idea, barrenness of language, 
and neglect of rhyme — by a total want, in short, of every- 
thing for which poetry, even of the vulgarest kind, is 
entitled to admiration or allowance. He, however, who 
should have the patience to collect, the judgment to 
arrange, and the integrity to publish the best pieces of 
this description, would probably deserve the thanks of 
the antiquary and the man of taste \ but would more 
probably excite the malicious attacks and scurrilous lan- 
guage of a few despicable hirelings, who, to the disgrace 
of criticism, of letters, and liberality, are permitted to 
dictate their crude and superficial ideas as the criterion 
of literary eminence. There is one song, or rather the 
fragment of one, which seems to merit particular atten- 
tion from a singular evidence of its origin and antiquity : 
it is inserted in the present collection, under the title oi 
** The Wee, Wee Man," and begins — 

" As I was walking all alone.'* 

The original of this song is extant in a Scotish or North- 
umbrian poem of Edward the First or Second's time, 
preserved in the British Museum, and intended to be 
one day given to the public. The two pieces will be 
found to afford a curious proof how poetry is preserved 


SCOTISH SONG. 79 

for a succession of ages by mere tradition ; for though 
the imagery or description is nearly the same, the words 
are altogether diflferent. Nor, had the " Canterbury Tales " 
of Chaucer been preserved to the present time in the 
same manner, would there have remained one single word 
which had fallen from the pen of that venerable bard ; 
they would have been as completely, though not quite 
so elegantiy, modernised as they are by Dryden and 
Pope ; and yet it is pretended that the poems of Ossian 
have been preserved immaculate for more than a thou- 
sand years ! 

II. The pastoral simplicity, plaintive wildness, and 
animating hilarity of the Scotish music have long at- 
tracted universal attention ; and the admiration of stmn> 
gers, though it may not equal, is sufficient to justify the 
enthusiastic attachment of the natives. Wherever the 
taste has not been vitiated by the more artificial har- 
mony of the Italian or German composer — in short, 
wherever there is nature or feeling — these "singularly 
sweet and pathetic melodies " (as they have been justly 
termed) cannot possibly fail to charm the imagination, 
and to interest the heart 

By whom, or under what circumstances, the original 
or most ancient Scotish tunes were invented or com- 
posed, it is now perhaps impossible to ascertain. The 
previous step, however, to an inquiry of this nature will 
be to determine which of the airs now extant are to be 
considered as the original or most ancient A very in- 
genious writer, in an express " Dissertation on the Scot- 
ish Music," has tried to fix the era of the most ancient 


8o HISTORICAL ESS A Y ON 

Scotish melodies, and to trace the history of the Scotish 
music down to modem times — an attempt in which, as 
he has been guided rather by fancy and hypothesis than 
by argument or evidence, it is almost unnecessary to say 
that he has not succeeded. It is, however, but justice 
to add, that the subject is much indebted to a disquisi- 
tion which evinces a considerable degree of ingenuity 
and a refined musical taste. ^' From their artless sim- 
plicity," he observes, "it is evident that the Scotish 
melodies are derived from very remote antiquity," while 
their "simplicity and wildness denote them to be the 
production of a pastoral age and country, and prior to 
the use of any musical instrument beyond that of a very 
limited scale of a few natural notes, and prior to the 
knowledge of any rules of artificial music The most 
ancient," continues he, " of the Scotish songs still pre- 
served, are extremely simple, and void of all art They 
consist of one measure only, and have no second part, 
as the later or more modem airs have.* They must, 
therefore, have been composed for a very simple instra- 
ment, such as the shepherd's reed or pipe, of few notes, 
and of the plain diatonic scale, without using the semi- 
toneSj or sharps and flats.t The distinguishing strain," 

* " Some old tunes," he observes, " have a second part, but it is 
only a repetition of the first on the higher octave, and probably of 
more modem date than the tunes themselves." 

+ " The only rule I could follow," he says, " was to select a few 
of the most undoubted ancient melodies, such as may be supposed 
to be the production of the simplest instrument of the most limited 
scale, as the shepherd's reed, and thence to trace them gradually 
downward to more varied, artful, and regular modulations, the com- 
positions of more polished manners and times, and suitable to 


SCOTISH SONG. 8i 

he adds, ^' of our old melodies is plaintive and melan- 
choly ; and what makes them soothing and affecting to 
a great degree, is the constant use of the concordant 
tones, the third and fifth of the scale, often ending upon 
the fifth, and some of them on the sixth, of the scale. 
By this artless standard,'* he says, " some of our Scottish 
melodies may be traced — such as ' Gil Morrice,' ' There 
cam a Ghost to Marg'et's Door,' * O Laddie, I man loo' 
thee,' ' Hap me wi' thy Pettycoat' — I mean," adds he, 
'^ the old sets of these airs, as the last air, which I take 
to be one of our oldest songs, is so modernised as scarce 
to have a trace of its ancient simplicity. The simple 
original air is still sung by nurses in the country as a 
lullaby to still their babes to sleep." The two last of 
these melodies, of which Mr Tytler observes, the artless 
simplicity of both words and music bears testimony of 
their originality and antiquity, are here inserted as proofs 
of the doctrine he has advanced, from copies obligingly 
communicated by himself: — 

instruments of a more extended scale/' A very little reflection, 
however, may serve to convince us that this rule is altogether falla- 
cious, and can by no means determine the age of any melody what- 
ever. Tunes may be, and probably are, composed to '' the shep- 
herd's reed " at this day; and the bagpipe, it must be remembered, 
has only nine notes. After all, what is meant by the " shepherd's 
reedf** Is it the common flute 7 or stock and horn? 

With respect to the melodies selected by Mr Tytler in support of 
his hypothesis, their antiquity is so very far from being ''undoubted," 
that it seems altogether imaginary and chimericaL We by no means 
deny that the Scots either had or have ancient tunes or songs, we 
only (to adopt the words of Bishop Stillingfleet) " desire to be bet- 
ter acquainted with them." 

F 


82 


HISTORICAL ESSA Y ON 


shcrjgp 


DIALOGUE. 
He. 



O lad - iei I man loo thee. O lass - ie, loo n! 
She. 


^P 


tdt 


¥ U. 


He. . . •«. 


P 


me. O lad • ie, I man loo thee. O lass - ie, loo na 


^ 


rt u 


^m 


me : ' For the lass • ie wi' the yel - low 


cot - tie has 


;f,^fp jvr| r>. r g a 


'S 


stoun a - wa the heart frae me. O, tc* 


' P i - 


5 


i 


1 


O hap me wi' thy pet - ty -]coat, my ain kind things O 


fe 


Jij i J r 


m 


F ^ 


t=t 


hap me wi* thy pet - ty - coat, my ain kind thing. The 


^ 


H^ 


t 


^ 


wind blaws loud, my claith - ing's thin : O rise and let me in ; And 


i f r J J l j-^+^^ 


s 


«l— =- 


I 


hap me wi' thy pet - ty - coat, my ain kind thing. 

* In the collection of old inedited Scotish ballads, mentioned in 
a preceding page, are preserved the original melodies to which they 
were sung by the lady from whose mouth they were taken down. 
These, however, appear to have little resemblance to the character- 
istic genius of the Scotish music. 


SCOTISH SONG. 2^z 

To return, however, to the origin of the Scotish music, 
which, waiving for the present the antiquity of particular 
tunes, we shall only consider in regard to the style of 
composition. Some, among whom is a very able writer, 
contend that " the honour of inventing the Scots music 
must be given to * Ireland,' the ancient Scotia, from 
whence," he says, " the present Scotia derived her name, 
her extraction, her language, her poetry."* This con- 

* Dr Campbell's " Philosophical Survey of the South of Ireland," 
p. 455, 1777. — That this music, or any one single Scotish air, was 
invented or composed by the unfortunate Rizzio, is only noticed here 
as an absurd fable ; which, having no support, merits no refutation : 
and yet, it is very remarkable, almost every writer who has had 
occasion to touch upon the subject, appears particularly anxious to 
get rid of him ; allowing, at the same time, that '* perhaps he might 
have moulded some of the Scotch airs into a more regular form;'' 
or that ** he may have been one of the first, perhaps, who made a 
collection of these songs, or he may have played them with more 
delicate touches than the Scotch musicians of that time; or perhaps 
corrected the extravagance of certain passages;'' suppositions for 
which there is just as little foundation as for the point in issue. *' It 
is not probable," says Dr Gregory, " that a stranger .... should 
enter so perfectly into the taste of the national music, as to compose 
airs, which the nicest judges cannot distinguish from those which 
are certainly known to be of much greater antiquity than Rizzio's :" 
[which be they ?] adding, that " the tradition on this subject is very 
vague, and there is no shadow of authority to ascribe any one par- 
ticular tune to Rizzio." — Comparative VieWy &c, p. 1541. The 
learned writer's information seems to have been as inaccurate, as his 
ideas, or expressions at least, are confiised; which might lead one 
to imagine that some show of management and dexterity was neces- 
sary even in combating a shadow. It may be worth inquiring, 
however, whether this formidable tradition have not been invented 
for the purpose of confutation; whether, in short, some one of those 
literary heroes have not actually made the giant he intended to 
demolish. Another equally groundless idea, that the Scotish music 
is indebted for its origin to the old church service, will be elsewhere 


84 HISTORICAL ESSA Y ON 

jecture is, indeed, by no means improbable ; but still it 
is believed that there exists a sensible difference between 
the native strains of Hibemia and the peculiar melodies 
of the Lowland Scots, and that as well in the mournful 
as in the festive strain.* Giraldus Cambrensis, indeed, 
who wrote before the year 1200, after praising the instru- 
mental music of the Irish as beyond anything he had 
been accustomed to, expressly says, that Scotland, by 
reason of intercourse and affinity, and through scientific 
emulation, endeavoiu:ed to imitate Ireland in musical 

noticed. It is to be regretted that one cannot trace these ridiculous 
opinions back to their fountain-head. Thompson, it is true, in the 
index to ** Orpheus Caledonius," positively asserts " that the songs 
marked thus (*) were composed by David Rizzio. These are, *'The 
Lasa of Patie*s Mill," ** Bessie BeU," " The Bush aboon Traquair," 
" The Bonny Boatman," ** An Thou were my Am Thing," ** Auld 
Rob Morris," and ** Down the Bum, Davie;" but the assertion is a 
proof at once of his ignorance and absurdity. 

* Compare, for instance, the justly celebrated Irish airs of " EUen 
Aroon" and "Larry Grogan," with the no less famous Scotish 
one of "Tweedside" and "The Bob of Dumblane;" though it is 
probable many other tunes might be contrasted with much greater 
propriety and efifect. If, however, the **Birks of Endermay" be 
originally an Irish tune, (a fact at the same time which requires 
proof, ) it will be difficult to controvert the point any further. See 
Walker's ** Historical Memoirs of the Irish Bards," p. 128. Dr 
Beattie says expressly, that ** the native melody of the Highlands 
and Western Isles is as different from that of the southern parts of 
the kingdom, as the Irish or Erse language is different from the 
English or Scotch. Of the Highland music," he adds, "the wildest 
irregularity appears in its composition; the expression is warlike 
and melancholy, and approaches even to the terrible ;" while several 
of the old Scotch songs " are sweetly and powerfully expressive of 
love and tenderness, and other emotions suited to the tranquility of 
a pastoral life ;" and he accounts for this difference in a very able 
and ingenious manner. — Essay on Poetry and Music, 


SCOT/SB SONG. 85 

notes, and that, in the opinion of many at that day, she 
not only equalled her mistress, but also in musical know- 
ledge far excelled and surpassed her.* There is likewise 
a passage in Martin's " Description of the Western 
Islands," which has the appearance of a still stronger 
authority in favour of Dr Campbell's position ; for there 
can be no question as to the affinity of Irish and High- 
land music ; and perhaps it is of the latter we are to 
understand the compliment cited from Giraldus, if indeed 
the Lowland manners had begun to prevail in his time. 
This author, (Martin,) speaking of the native inhabitants 
of Skye, whom he describes as having a great genius for 
music, says, " There are several of *em who invent tunes 
very taking in the south of Scotland and elsewhere;" 
adding, that '' some musitians have endeavoured to pass 
for first inventers of them by changing their name ; but 
this has been impracticable, for whatever language gives 
the modem name, the tune still continues to speak its 
true original ; and of this," says he, " I have been shew'd 
several instances," which, however, it is to be wished he 
had condescended to particularise, as the late publica- 
tion of Highland airs affords no support, it is believed, 
to that hypothesis. After all, admitting the Irish origin 
of the Scotish music, it cannot be reasonably doubted 
that many, if not most, or even all of the most celebrated 
and popular Scotish melodies, now extant, as distin- 
guished from the Highland airs, have actually been 
composed by natives of the Lowlands, speaking and 
thinking in the English language ; by shepherds tending 

* ** Topographia Hibemise,'' Camden's "Anglica, Normannica," 
&C., p. 739, 1603. 


86 HISTORICAL ESSA Y ON 

their flocks, or by maids milking their ewes ; by persons, 
in short, altogether uncultivated, or, if one may be allowed 
the expression, uncorrupted by art, and influenced only 
by the dictates of pure and simple nature.* The tunes 
now preserved must therefore have been noted by acci- 
dent, numbers having doubtless perished, and perhaps 
daily perishing, of equal, or possibly greater, merit — 

" Full many a gem of purest ray serene 
The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear ; 
Full many a flower is bom to blush unseen, 
And waste its sweetness on the desert air/' t 


* The tune of ** Weary fa' you, Duncan Gray," is said to have 
been the composition of a carman in Glasgow. — Johnsaris Scots 
Musical Museum, vol. ii. (Index.) 

f It was no small gratification to find this opinion as to the origin 
of Scotish music already enforced by so ingenious and elegant a 
writer as Dr Beattie, who believes ** that it took its rise among men 
who were real shepherds, and who actually felt the sentiments and 
affections whereof it is so very expressive." Nature and indolence, 
no doubt, will occasionally produce similar effects in very distant 
and different countries. A late traveller found the quick tunes of 
the Moors in Barbary beautiful and simple, and partaking, in some 
degree, of the characteristic melody of the Scotish 2lixs.— Lempn'ere^ s 
Tour to Morocco, p. 317, 1791. Nay, even in China, a country 
which has been civilised for ages, Dr Lind, an excellent judge of 
the subject, and philosophically curious in everything that relates to 
it, after residing there several years, assured Dr Bumey that all the 
melodies he had heard, bore a strong resemblance to the old Scots 
tunes. ** A very celebrated and learned physician," if one may 
venture to believe the editor of "Select Scotish Ballads," **who 
was bom and passed his early years in the south of Scotland," in- 
formed him, that it was ''his opinion that the best of the ancient 
Scotish airs were really composed by shepherds. In his remem- 
brance there was, in almost every village of that district, a chief 
shepherd, who had acquired celebrity by composing better songs 
than others of the same profession ; and he thinks, that though the 


SCOTISH SONG. 87 

This premised, it shall be the object of the present essay 
to collect such evidence as can be procured to illustrate 
the antiquity of the tunes in question. 

As we have seen, the Scots had songs in the four- 
teenth century, so, no doubt, had they tunes or music to 
them ; but of what nature, and how far, if at all, resem- 
bling their now celebrated melodies, or if, indeed, any- 
thing more than the plain church chant, is at present 
almost beyond .the reach of conjecture. 

The tune of " Hey tutti taiti," to which there is a 
song, with those words in its burthen, beginning ** Land- 
lady, Count the Lawin," is said by tradition to have been 
King Robert Bruce*s march at the battle of Bannock- 
bum, in 1314.* It does not, however, seem at all prob- 
able that the Scots had any martial music in the time of 
this monarch, it being the custom at that period for 
every man in the host to bear a little horn, with the 
blowing of which, as we are told by Froissart, they would 
make such a horrible noise, as if all the devils of hell 
had been among them. It is not, therefore, likely that 
these unpolished warriors would be curious 

best airs are in general known, yet the words to at least one-half 
have never been published." — History ofMusic^ i. 38. A volume of 
these genuine inedited pastoral songs would be a very great curiosity. 

Dr Bumey, in the first volume of his ** History of Music," p. 38, 
says, ** The melody of Scotland will be hereafter proved of a much 
higher antiquity than has been generally imagined ;" but one looks 
in vain for the performance of this promise in the sequel of that 
elaborate work. 

* Johnson's "Scots Musical Museum/' vol. ii. (Index) — 

"O Tite, tute Tati, HHtanta, tyranne tulisti;* 
in a line of Father Ennius. 


88 HISTORICAL ESSA Y ON 

" to move 
In perfect phalanx to the Dorian mood 
Of flutes and soft recorders." 

These horns, indeed, are the only music ever mentioned 
by Barbour,* to whom any particular march would have 
been too important a circumstance to be passed over in 
silence; so that it must remain a moot point whether 
Bruce's army were cheered by the sound of even a soli- 
tary bagpipe. 

The battle of Harlaw, fought in 141 1, gave name to a 
famous bagpipe tune, which preserved its celebrity till 
the middle of the last century : — 

" Interea ante alios dux piperlaius heros, 
Precedens, magnam que gerens cum btirdine pipamt 
Incipit Harlaii cimctis sonare battellum." t 

King James I., who has been already mentioned as an 
excellent poet and song writer, was also an accomplished 
musician, and vocal as well as instrumental performer.j: 
He is even celebrated (as is thought) by Tassoni, the 
well-knpwn author of that original mock-heroic "La 
Secchia Rapita," in his book " De Diversi Pensieri," as 
having not only composed many sacred pieces of vocal 

* " For we to mome her, all the day. 
Sail mak as mery as we may : 
And mak us boune agayn the nycht ; 
And than ger mak our fyrs lycht ; 
And blow our hornys, and mak far. 
As all the warld our awne war." 

— The Brucct vol. iii. p. 148. 
+ Polemo-middinia. See before, p. 41. 

X " Fordun," 1. 16, cc 28, 29. " He was weil lemit [in England]," 
says the translator of Boethius, ** to synge and dance, and .... 
was richt crafty in playing baith of lute and harp, and sindry othir 
instrumentis of musik." According to Mr Tytler, he accompanied 
his own songs with the lute and harp ; but this inference is not war- 
ranted by any ancient author. 


SCOTISH SONG. 89 

music, but also of himself invented a new kind of music, 
plaintive and melancholy, different from all other, in 
which he had been imitated by Carlo Gesualdo, Prince 
of Venosa, who had improved music with new and ad- 
mirable inventions.* This passage is regarded, by the 
ingenious writer so often quoted, as '^ perfectly charac- 
teristic of the pathetic strains of the old Scottish songs, 
and an illustrious testimony of their excellency/' Since, 
however, no Scotish music, either of the composition or 
of the age of this monarch has been yet produced,t the 

* Tassoni, it is observable, does not distinguish his royal musician 
&om the five other princes of the same name who succeeded him : 
his words are merely, "iVbi possiatno connumerar tra nostri Jacopo 
re di Scozia,* &c, — that is, we may reckon among our modem com- 
posers James King of Scotland. Now, James I. had been dead for 
near a couple of centuries before Tassoni's book was written, (about 
1610^) and was, consequently, at that period more of an ancient 
than a modem. Lord Kaimes, indeed, observes, that ** the king 
mentioned must be James I. of Scotland," as he is the only one of 
their kings ** who seems to have had any remarkable taste, in the fine 
arts; an opinion," he adds, " in which ail seem to be now agreed ;" 
that ** the music," however, '* can be no other than the songs [he 
has] mentioned above," * is a different matter. — See Sketches of the 
History of Marty i. 166, 167. 

t Mr Tytler, who thinks it scarce to be doubted that many of 
King James's compositions are still remaining, and make a part of 
the finest old Scotish melodies, though passing undistinguished, in 
all probability, under other names, and being adapted to modem 
words, says, that '*of his age (some of them very probably of his 
composition) may be reckoned the following simple, plaintive, and 
ancient melodies : — ** Jockie and Sandie/* " Waly, Waly up the 
Bank," ** Ay Waking, O I " ** Be Constant ay," " WUl ye go to the 
Ewe-bughts, Marrion," "Gil Morrice," "There cam a Ghost to 

* "We have in Scotland a multitude of songs tender and pathetic, expressive 
of love in all its varieties of hope, fear, success, despondence, and despair. Tlie 
stvie of the music is wild and irregular," &c. 


90 HISTORICAL ESS A Y ON 

above testimony, illustrious as it may be, is by no means 
conclusive that this species of modulation was invented 
by or even known to King James I. It is very remark- 
able, at the same time, that neither Mr Tytler, Lord 
Kaimes, nor any other Scotish writer, who has brought 
forward this celebrated passage, to prove that the native 
music of Scotland was imitated, near two hundred years 
ago, by an Italian prince, has thought it at all necessary 
to produce or make any sort of inquiry after the imita- 

Marg'et's Door," **0 Laddie, I man loo* thee," "Hap me wi' 
thy Pettycoat," he conjectures, from their artless simplicity, to 
belong to an age prior to James I. There is, in fact, no bound to 
conjecture ; and it would be just as easy, and possibly just as true, 
to fancy that all the old Scotish songs and tunes now extant, were 
sung and played every day before Fingall, as he sat in his great 
chair after dinner, "drinking the blude red wine," or promoting 
the circulation of the social mull. " How romantic," exclaims this 
ingenious writer, ** the melody of the old love ballad of ' Hero and 
Leander I ' What a melancholy love story is told in the old song 
of * Jockie and Sandie ! *** They, however, who look for romantic 
melody in the air, at least, of " Hero and Leander," will be probably 
disappointed ; and the melancholy love story of " Jockie and Sandie" 
seems calculated to excite laughter rather than tears; being in fact 
a modem English imitation of an imaginary Scotish original, either 
by, or very much, at least, in the style of Tom D'Urfey. The first 
line is best known, as people seldom read any more of it — 

" Twa bonny lads were Sandie and Jockie." 

Mr Ty tier's zeal, indeed, has, on this occasion, betrayed him into a 
little inconsistency. To ascribe many or even any of the Scotish 
popular airs to such a scientific musician as King James I., is utterly 
incompatible with the original to which he has already allotted 
them, and with the standard by which he contends their antiquity is 
to be ascertained. Besides, if some of these tunes existed before the 
age of this monarch, he could not possibly be the inventor of that 
peculiar style of music, and, consequently, Tassoni's compliment 
must pass for nothing. 


SCOT/SB SONG. 91 

tions themselves. Now, it unluckily happens that the 
works of this same prince of Venosa (who died in 16 14) 
have been repeatedly printed, and are by no means 
difficult to procure. They consist of six sets of madri- 
gals for five voices, and one for six. The ingenious Dr 
Bumey, who examined them with great attention, was 
utterly unable to discover the least similitude or imita- 
tion of Caledonian airs in any one of them ; which, so 
far from Scotish melodies, seem, from his account, to 
contain no melodies at all, and even to have as little 
merit as possible in point of harmony. The doctor un- 
derstands Tassoni's words to imply, " that these princely 
dilettanti were equally cultivators and inventors of mu- 
sic ;" adding, that if he meant otherwise, (to which one 
may superadd even if he meant that,) his remarks must 
have been hazarded either from conjecture or report.* 
That the national music, therefore, was either invented 
or improved by, or any way indebted to, King James I., 
there is every reason to disbelieve : unless by national 
we are to understand cathedral music, to which he cer- 

* "History of Music," iii. 218. If James VI., to whom a late 
writer, less remarkable, indeed, for the justice than for the singu- 
larity of his opinions, will have the above passage of Tassoni to 
refer, and .who was certainly a writer of madrigals, had actually 
composed the music to them, there would remain little doubt of the 
fact. It is, however, possible that some of these identical madri- 
gals, set to music by one does not know whom, might have fallen 
into the hands of Carlo Gesualdo, who, supposing the whole to pro- 
ceed from the same royal genius, had immediately set himself to 
imitate some peculiarities in the composition, which, if one may 
judge by the character given of his own efforts, were altogether 
unworthy of imitation. 


92 HISTORICAL ESS A Y ON 

tainly appears to have paid great attention.* He intro- 
duced the organ into churches, together with a new 
method of singing, and gave great encouragement to 
those skilled in it ; and that he might, as Tassoni asserts, 
compose " sacred pieces of vocal music," and even, like 
our own Henry VIII., a canon in the unison, is sufficiently 
credible ; but will by no means prove that he was a cul-* 
tivator or even admirer of what we now mean by Scotish 
music; between which and the compositions (whatever 
they were) of King James I. there was probably the same 
difference that must ever exist between pure nature and 
mere artt 

Country dances appear, from this prince's own testi- 
mony, to have been a no less favourite amusement in his 
time than they are at present. In his poem of " Peblis 
to the Play," " The Schamon's Dance" is spoken of as a 
well-known tune. J 

King James IV. has the reputation of a composer. 
In Johnson's "Scots Musical Museum" is a tune en- 
titled " Here 's a Health to my True Love," which is men- 
tioned upon report as the performance of this gallant 
monarch. One would be glad, however, of some better. 


* See " Boethii Scotorum Historia," fo. 362. 

f An absurd idea, said to prevail in Scotland, that the anthems 
and services of the old church were sung to what are since become 
popular melodies, will be noticed in another place. 

X The word schamons cannot be explained. In the fragment of 
a very old Scotish song, it is said, of a kind of fairy or genius, 

" His legs were scarce a schathmont's length." 

It has been very ridiculously interpreted showman's. See the Glos- 
sary to the present collection. 


SCOTISH SONG. 93 

or at least earlier authority, as Scotish traditions are to 
be received with great caution. 

The tune of " Flowden Hill/' or " The Flowers of the 
Forest," is one of the most beautiful Scotish melodies 
now extant, and, if of the age supposed, must be consi- 
dered as the most ancient. The '^ Souters of Selkirk,'' 
which has been already noticed, and is likewise a very 
fine air, if (as some say) it were actually composed upon 
the same occasion, must be left to dispute the prece- 
dency.* 

The music of the " Gaberlunzie Man** is thought to 
be coeval with the words, if not by the same hand ; 
which is probably the case also with "The £eggar*s 
Meal Pokes," and " Where Helen Lies." These three 
airs may therefore be esteemed the next in point of anti- 
quity to those already mentioned.t The old ballad of 
^* Johnie Armstrang" is accompanied, in a late musical 
publication, by^a good melody, but of what age it is not 
perhaps easy to ascertain. 

The long extract already given from Wedderburn's 
" Complainte of Scotlande,'' concluded with the shepherds 
beginning to dance in a ring, "euyrie aid scheiphyrd 
' leading* his vjrfe be the hand, and euyrie zong scheipird 
'leading' hyr quhome he luffit best. There was viij 
scheiph)n-dis," the author tells us, " and ilk ane of them 
hed ane syndry instrament to play to the laif " Having 

* See before, p. 31. 

f It may be here remarked, as somewhat singular, that tradition, 
which ascribes tunes, with whatever justice, to James IV. and James 
v., whose musical talents are unnoticed by any historical writer, 
should attribute nothing of the kind to James I., who is celebrated 
by several authors as another Apollo. 


94 HISTORICAL ESSA Y ON 

described these instruments, " kyng Amphion," he says, 
"that playit sa sueit on his harpe quhen he kepit his 
scheip, nor zit Apollo the god of sapiens, that kepit king 
Admetus scheip vitht his sueit menstralye, none of thir 
twa playit mayr cureouslye nor did thir viij schephyrdis 
befor rehersit; nor zit al the scheiphirdis that Virgil 
makkis 'mention' in his Bucolikis, thai culd nocht be 
comparit to thir foirsaid scheiphyrdis ; nor Orpheus, that 
playit so sueit quhen he socht his vyf in hel, his play- 
ing prefFerit nocht thir foirsaid scheiphirdis ; nor zit the 
scheiphyrd Pan, that playit to the goddis on his bag- 
pype ; nor Mercurius, that playit on ane sey reid, none 
of them could prefFer thir foirsaid scheiphirdis. I beheld 
never ane mair dilectabil recreatione : for fyrst thai began 

vitht tua bekkis and vitht a kysse It vas ane 

celest recreation to behald ther lycht lopene, galmOud- 
ing, stendling, bakuart & forduart, dansand base dansis, 
pauuans, galzardis, turdions, braulis, and b^anglis, bufFons, 
vitht mony vthir lycht dancis, the quhilk ar ouer prolixt 
to be rehersit. Zit nochthles i sal rehers sa mony as 
my ingyne can put in 'memorie.' In the fyrst, thai 
dancit ' Al cristin mennis dance,* ' The northt of Scot- 
land,' * Huntis vp,' * * The commout entray,' * Lang plat 


* " Courage to give was mightily then blown 

' Saint Johnston's Huntsup/ since most famous known 

By all musicians, when they sweetly sing 

With heavenly voice and well concorded string." 

— Muses Threnodie. 

Again, in a poem " On May," by Alexander Scott, (" Ever Green," 

ii. 1 86 :)— 

'* In May gois gallants bryng in symmer, 
And trymmly ocupy their tymmer 

With *hunt up* every morning plaid." 


SCOTISH SONG. 95 

ful of gariau/ * Robene Hude/ ' Thom of Lyn,* * Freris 
al/ * Ennyrnes,' ^ The loch of Slene/ * The gosseps 
dance,' * Leuis grene,' * Makky,' * The speyde,' * The 
flail/ * The lammes vynde/ * Soutra/ * Cum kyttil me 
naykyt vantounly,* ^Schayke leg/ 'Fut befor gossep/ 
' Rank at the rute/ ' Baglap and al/ * Ihonne Ermi- 
strangis dance/ ' The alman haye/ ' The bace of Vor- 
agon/ * Dangeir/ ' The beye/ * The dede dance/ * The 
dance of Kilrynne/ ' The vod and the val/ * Schaik a 
trot' Then quhen this dansing vas dune, tha departit 
and past to cal their scheip cottis," &c. It is equally 
singular and unfortunate, that not one of the dance- 
tunes here named should be known to exist at this 
moment. 

" It is a received tradition in Scotland," says Dr 
Percy, " that at the time of the Reformation, ridiculous 
and obscene songs were composed, to be sung by the 
rabble, to the tunes of the most favourite hymns in the 
Latin service. ' Green Sleeves and Pudding Pies * (de- 
signed to ridicule the Popish clergy) is said to be one 
of those metamorphosed hymns : * Maggy Lauder' was 
another: *John Anderson my Jo' was a third. The 
original music of all these burlesque sonnets," continues 
he, " was very fine." * This tradition is also mentioned 

* The adaptation of solemn church music to these ludicrous 
pieces, will account for the following fact From the records of the 
General Assembly in Scotland, called " The Book of the Universal 
Kirk," p. 90, 7th July 1568, it appears that Thomas Bassendyne, 
printer in Edinburgh, printed " a psalme buik, in the end whereof 
was found printit ane baudy sang, called * Welcome Fortunes.'" — 
ReliqueSy &c., vol. ii. p. 122. One ought not, however, to have the 
worse opinion of any poetical composition merely from the circum- 


96 HISTORICAL ESSA V ON 

by Mr Tytler, who gives it thus, — " That in ridicule of 
the cathedral service, several of their hymns were, by 
the wits among the reformed, burlesqued, and sung 
as profane ballads. Of this," he says, " there is 
some remaining evidence. The well-known tunes of 
'John, come Kiss me now,' 'Kind Robin Lo'es me,' 
and *John Anderson my Jo,'* are said to be of that 

stance of its being stigmatised with an opprobrious epithet by '* the 
universal kirk." 

* '' This tune was a piece of sacred music in the Roman Catholic 
times of our country. John Anderson is said by tradition to have 
been town-piper in Kelso." — Johnson's Scots Musical Museum, voL 
iii. (Index.) This identical song is preserved by Dr Percy. 

Woman. 
John Anderson my jo, cum in as ze gae bye, 
And ze sail get a sheip's held weel baken in a pye ; 
Weel baken in a pye, and the haggis in a pat : 
John Anderson my jo, cum in, and ze 's get that. 

Man. 

And how do ze, Cummer ? and how hae ze threven T 
And how mony bairns hae ze ? Wom. Cummer, I hae seven. 
Man. Are they to zour awin gude man T Wom. Na, Cummer, na 
For five of them were gotten quhan he was awa. 

The ** seven bairns" are, with great probability, thought to allude 
to the seven sacraments; five of whichj it is observed, were the 
spurious offspring of Mother Church : as the first stanza is supposed 
to contain a satyrical allusion to the luxury of the Popish cleigy, 
which, however, is not so evident. In Dr Percy's first edition the 
second stanza ran thus : — 

Man. 
And how doe ze, Cummer? and how do ze thrive? 
And how mony bairns hae ze? WoM. Cummer, I hae five. 
Man. Are they all to zour ain gude man? Wom. Na, Cummer, na ; 
For three of tham were gotten quhan Willie was awa. 

This, therefore, seems to have been the original ballad, of which the 
satire was transferred, by the easy change of two or three words, 
from common life to holy churdL It is, however, either way, a 
great curiosity. 


SCOTJSH SONG, 97 

number." * The evidence supposed to be here alluded 
to, seems to prove a very different fact ; which is, that 
several common tunes were pressed into the service of 
the Puritans, in order either to satirise the Popish 
clergy, or to promote their peculiar fanaticism, as has 
been already mentioned. No vestige of any Scotish 
melody ever was or ever will be found in the old Scotish 
Church service, which did not (for one of their service- 
books is preserved) and could not possibly differ from 
that of other Catholic countries, and must therefore have 
consisted entirely of chant and counter point We may, 
therefore, safely conclude that the Scotish song owes 
nothing to the church music of the cathedrals and 
abbeys before the Reformation; and that nothing can 
be more opposite than such harmonic compositions to 
the genius of song, which consists in the simple melody 
of one single part.t The tradition has probably no 

* Tytler, p, 230. These hymns, unfortunately, were in Latin, 
which, it is humbly presumed, *' the wits among the reformed" un- 
derstood somewhat too imperfectly to be able to burlesque them. 
This part of the tradition is more absurd, if possible, than the other. 

t Tytler, pp. 229, 230. As truth, not system, is the object of 
this inquiry, the following conmiunication, from a very ingenious 
and much esteemed musical friend, appeared too interesting to be 
suppressed: — " When I was in Italy, it struck me very forcibly that 
the plain chants, which are sung by the friars or priests, bore a great 
resemblance to some of the oldest of the Scotish melodies. If a 
number of bass voices were to sing the air of * Barbara Allan' in the 
ecclesiastical manner, the likeness would appear so great* to a per- 
son who is not accustomed to hear the former frequently, that he 
would imagine the one to be a slight variation from the other. That 
accident might be the cause of original invention, the underwritten 

* " Much more so than ' John, come kiss me now/ which, as the Scots say, 
was originally a church chant" 

G 


98 HISTORICAL ESSA Y ON 

other foundation than the ridiculous travestie, made by 
these pious reformers, of certain " prophaine sangs, for 
avoyding," as their cant is, " of sinne and harlotrie," and 
substituting a sort of blasphemous buffoonery in their 
place. "If,*' says Mr Tytler, "the other tunes, pre- 
served of the old church music, were in the same style 
of ' John, come kiss me now,' our fine old melodies, I 
think, could borrow nothing from them." This, however, 
is not so clear ; as " John, come kiss me now," is cer- 
tainly a very fine tune. 

It is uncertain whether the air to which " Rob's Jock" 
is sung or chanted be coeval with the original words, 
which appear to have been popular in 1568. Could the 
point be ascertained, it is probably one of the oldest 
Scotish song-tunes now extant. 

The music, as well as the words, of " The Bonny Earl 
of Murray," may be reasonably supposed contemporary 
with the event of his murder. " Tak your Auld Cloak 
about ye," and " Waly, waly up the bank," have been 
already mentioned as productions of the sixteenth cen- 
tury; the air of each is a fine, and probably genuine, 
specimen of ancient Scotish melody. 

The next piece of Scotish music of which one is able 

will prove. About twelve years ago, on trying my pianoforte, after 
tuning, by putting my fingers casually (with some degree of musical 
rhjrthmus) upon the short keys, avoiding the long ones, it surprised 
me much to hear an agreeable Scots melody. This is so curious 
and so certain, that those who are totally ignorant of music, may 
amuse themselves by playing the same measure and motion of any 
well-known tune upon the short keys only, which in modem in- 
struments are made of ebony, to distinguish them from the long 
ones, which are generally made of ivory." 


SCOTISH SONG. 99 

to fix the date is " General Leslie's March," 1644. That 
the Aberdeen collection, printed in 1666, contains many 
songs of a much earlier period, we have a right to infer 
from the preservation of "O Lusty May with Flora Queen;" 
which is known to have been popular in 1549. The air 
of that song, and of the others inserted from the same 
book in the present volume, will be sufficient to show 
that the characteristic melody of Scotland is under very 
little obligation to its compiler. At the end of the same 
publication are three singular compositions for as many 
voices, which are conjectured to have been sung by 
peasants in the Christmas holidays before the Reforma- 
tion ; the music is a church chant"* 

* See extracts from one of these pieces before, p. 48. They are 
all very rude, and their antiquity is collected from the following 
lines : — 

" All sones of Adam, rise up with me, 
Go praise the blessed Trinitie, &c. 
Then spake the archangel Gabriel, said, Ave, Mary mild, 
The Lord of lords is with thee, now shall you go with child : 

Ecce anncilla domini. 

" Then said the virgin, as thou hast said, so mat it be, 
Welcom be heaven's king. 
There comes a ship far sailing dien. 
Saint Michel was the stieres-man ; 

Saint lohn sate in the horn : 
Our Lord harped, our lady sang, 
And all the bells of heaven they rang. 
On Christ's sonday at mom," &c. 

In the *' Pleugh song," all " the hyndis" are named, and all things 
belonging to the plough enumerated ; the ploughman's cries to his 
oxen are given, and the like; but it will not bear transcribing. In 
the third edition of this work, printed at Aberdeen in 1682, (which 
Mr Pmkerton " wishes very much to see,") this ** pleugh song," and 
the pieces which follow it, are omitted, and "severall of the choisest 
Italian-songs, and new English-ayres," inserted in their stead. The 
tenor part, certainly, and the bass part, probably, appeared at the 
same time. 


loo HISTORICAL ESSAY ON 

No direct evidence, it is believed, can be produced of 
the existence of any Scotish tune now known prior to 
the year 1660, exclusive of such as are already men- 
tioned ; nor is any one, even of those, to be found noted, 
either in print or manuscript, before that period. 

Ramsay, in his ** Tea-Table Miscellany," published, as 
before observed, in 1724, remarks of the Scotish tunes, 
that though they " have not lengthened variety of music, 
yet they have an agreeable gaiety and natural sweetness 
that make them acceptable wherever they are known, 
not only among ourselves, but in other countries. They 
are, for the most part,*' he says, " so cheerful, that, on 
hearing them well played or sung, we find it a difficulty 
to keep ourselves from dancing;" and, "what fiirther 
adds to the esteem we have for them is their antiquity, 
and their being universally known." This passage is the 
rather noticed, as being the earliest testimony hitherto 
met with of the excellence and antiquity of Scotish 
music* From the two first volumes of Ramsay's coUec- 

* The following tunes, to which there are new words in the " Tea- 
Table Miscellany,*' appear from that circumstance to have been 
popular at the time of its publication: — ** Polwarth on the Green," 
** Woe's my Heart that we should sunder,** ** Carle and the King 
come," "Auld Lang Syne," ** Hallow Ev*n," **I wish my Love were 
in a Mire,** " The Fourteenth of October," ** The Broom of Cowden 
Knows,** "The Bonniest Lass in a' the Warld," "The Boatman," 
" The Kirk wad let me be,** ** Saw ye my Peggy," " Blink over the 
Bum, Sweet Betty," "The Bonny Grey-ey'd Morning,'* "Logan 
Water,** " For our Lang Biding here/* " My Apron deary,'* " I fixed 
my Fancy on her,*' " I loo'd a Bonny Lady," "Gilder Roy," "The 
YeUow-hair'd Laddie," "When she came ben she bobed," "John 
Anderson my Jo," "Come kiss with me, come clap with me," 
" Rothes's Lament; or Pinky House," " Tibby Fowler m the Glen," 
"Where shall our Good Man ly,*' "Allan Water; or. My Love 


SCOTISH SONG. loi 

tion, " Mr Thomson," he tells us, who was " allowed by 
all to be a good singer and teacher of Scots songs, culled 
his ' Orpheus Caledonius,' the music for both the voice 
and flute, and the words of the songs, finely engraven in 
a folio book for the use of persons of the highest quality 
in Britain, and dedicated to the late queen." * Notwith- 
standing this compliment, Mr Thomson does not appear 
to have been a man of either taste or genius ; his selec- 
tion is by no means judicious, and the few pieces not 
immediately taken fi:om Ramsay of httle meritt A very 

Annie's very bonnie," "Where Helen lies/* " Gallowshiels," "Rant- 
ing, Roaring Willie," " Sae merry as we have been," ** Steer her up 
and had her gawn," "Bessy's Haggies," "Lochaber no more," 
" Valiant Jocky," " When absent, &c.," " Gillikranky," " The Happy 
Clown," "Jenny beguil'd the Webster," "Busk ye, busk ye, my 
Bonny Bride," " We '11 a' to Kelso go," "Montrose's Lines," "Widow, 
are ye wawkin," " The Glancing of her Apron," " Auld Sir Simon 
the King," (English,) " Through the Wood, Laddie,'* "A Rock and a 
Wee Pickle Tow," " The Highland Laddie," " Bessy Bell," " The 
Bonny Lass of Branksome," "The Wawking of the Faulds," "O 
Dear Mother, what shall I do," " How can I be sad on my Wedding 
Day," "Cauld Cale in Aberdeen," "Mucking of Geordy's Byer," 
** Leith Wynd," " O'er Bogie," " O'er the Hills and far away." 

* "Orpheus Caledonius; or, A Collection of the Best Scotish 
Songs, set to musick by W. Thomson, London, engraved and 
printed by the author, at his house in Leicester-fields," fo. no date. 
[1725?] Dedicated "To Her Highness the Princess of Wales," 
(afterwards Queen.) The second edition was published, with an 
additional volume, in 8vo, 1 733. 

t That Thomson either did not understand, or did not attend to 
what he published, is apparent from the following blunder, which is 
repeated in his second edition : — 

" My apron is made of a Lyneum twine 
Well set about wi* pearling Syne.** 

A Lyneum should be the Lyneum ^ (1. e, Lincoln,) and Syne should 
he fine. Though a certain prolific writer, whose confidence is more 


I02 HISTORICAL ESSAY ON 

small collection of tunes for the " Tea-Table Miscellany," 
either before or soon after the appearance of Thomson's 
work, was published by Ramsay himself. 

The insurrections of 1715 and 1745 seem to have 
inspired all the pipers in Scotland, having given rise to 
almost as many tunes as would fill a volume. Of these 
some have correspondent words, while those of others 
bear so little proportion to the merit of the melody as to 
be either lost or neglected. A few of the rest will be 
found in the present collection, one of which is the sub- 
ject of an interesting anecdote related in Mr Amot's 
" History of Edinburgh."* 

remarkable than his veracity, has been pleased to assert that ^ Lin- 
cam licht is a common Glasgow phrase for very light/' and that 
*'no particular cloth was ever made at Lincoln," every one knows 
the latter pait of the assertion to be false, which seems a sufficient 
reason for disbelieving the former part of it to be true. 

* " After the rebellion, 1 745, the divided spectators frequently 
displayed in the theatre a spirit of political dissension. Upon the 
anniversary of the battle of CuUoden, 1749, this animosity rose to a 
height which threatened consequences of a serious nature. Certain 
military gentlemen who were in the playhouse called out to the 
band to play ' Culloden,' [a tune composed in order to keep up 
the remembrance of the bloody defeat of an unfortunate party.] 
This was regarded by the audience as ungenerously and insolently 
upbraiding the country with her misfortunes. Resenting it accord- 
dingly, they ordered the band to play, ' You *re welcome, ** Charlie" 
Stuart.' The musicians complying, instantly a number of officers 
attacked the orchestra, with dra^n swords, and leaped upon the 
stage. Among them was the son of a chieftain, who had drawn the 
Pretender on to his rash attempt, by offering to join him with his 
clan, and who, upon the prince's landing, raised his dan, it is true ; 
but, instead of fulfilling his engagement, joined the royal army. 
This young gentleman leaping upon the stage, to display the zeal- 
ouaness of his loyalty, slipped his foot, and fell flat upon the stage. 
The spectators being tickled with the circumstance, an immense 


SCOTISH SONG. 103 

About the yeax 1750, Mr Oswald, a musicseller in 
London, published a large collection of Scotish tunes 
under the title of " The Caledonian Pocket Companion," 
a work in which he must have exerted prodigious indus- 
try. The number of airs in these twelve volumes (which 
are, however, thin enough to bind up together in one) is 
not less than between five and six hundred, and includes 
many very ancient, very excellent, and very curious 
pieces, nowhere else to be found, nor ever before pub- 
lished. The following favourite airs — "Alloa House," 
" The Banks of Forth," " Roslin Castle," " The Braes of 
Ballendine," and several others, were composed by Os- 
wald himself, of whom Mr Tytler observes, that his 
genius in composition^ joined to his taste in the perform- 
ance of Scotish music, was natural and pathetic. 

A smaller collection was edited about the same period 
by M'Gibbon, who, as well as Oswald, indulges himself 
a little too much in affected variations. Selected songs 
and melodies have been since published by Bremner, 

peal of laughter burst through the house, which exasperated the. 
indignation of the officers. Meantime, fiddle-sticks being unable 
to cope with polished steel, the musicians fled; but the military 
were not long able to remain masters of the field. They were 
assailed from the galleries with apples, snuff-boxes, broken forms, 
in short, with everything missile that could be laid hold of. The 
officers at once consulted their safety, and went in quest of revenge, 
by quitting the stage, in order to attack the galleries, which they 
stormed sword in hand. The inhabitants of these upper r^ons 
defended themselves from the fury of the soldiers, by barricading 
their doors. The Highland chairmen, learning the nature of the 
quarrel, with their poles attacked the officers in the rear, who, being 
neither able to advance nor retreat, were obliged to surrender at dis- 
cretion, leaving the chairmen masters of the field." — P. 374, 


I04 HISTORICAL ESSAY ON 

Sutherland & Com, Napier, and Johnson — in the last of 
which, entitled " The Scots Musical Museum," (in four 
volumes,) are many curious pieces, not, it is beheved, to 
be elsewhere met with. 

The object of the preceding inquiry has been to dis- 
cover facts, not to indulge conjecture. Those songs and 
tunes, therefore, of which intrinsic evidence alone may 
be supposed to ascertain the age, are left to the genius 
and judgment of the connoisseur ; such, for instance, as 
" Hero and Leander," " Lady Ann Bothwell's Lament,*'* 
" Muirland Willie," " Ay waking, oh !" "The Lowlands 
of Holland," "Ewebughts Marion," "The Blythsome 
Bridale," " My Jo Janet," « Auld Rob Morris," " Rare 
Willie drown'd in Yarrow," " Katherine Ogie,"+ "Maggy 

* Mr Tytler classes these two ballads together in his second 
epoch; that is, in the reigns of James IV., James V., and Queen 
Mary ; but then he does the same by ** Leader Haughs and Yarrow," 
which has all the appearance of a song not older than the present 
century. All his epochs, indeed, are perfectly fanciful and un- 
founded. The editor of '' Select Scotish Ballads" pretends, that in 
a quarto manuscript in his possession, ''containing a collection of 
poems, by different hands, from the reign of Queen Elizabeth to the 
middle of the last century, when it was apparently written, there 
are two balowes, as they are there styled, the first, 'The balow, 
Allan,' the second, * Palmer's balow ; * this last," he says, " is that 
commonly called 'Lady Bothwell's Lament.' and the three first 
stanzas in this [his own] edition are taken from it, as is the last 
from 'Allan's balow.* They are injudiciously mingled," he adds, 
" in Ramsay's edition, and several stanzas ^ his own added." Part 
of this is certainly false, and the rest of it probably so. Though 
some words, and even lines, of Ramsay's copy are different fi*om 
that in the '' Scots poems," 1706, the number of stanzas is the same 
in both. 

t Was " sung by Mr Abell, at his concert in Stationers' Hall," 
about 1680. 


SCOTISH SONG. 105 

Lauder/'* "Sweet William's Ghost," " Johny Faa," &c. 
It is, however, to be hoped that the future researches of 
the antiquaries of Scotland will be so diligent and suc- 
cessful, as to leave no doubts either on this or any other 
branch of their national antiquities. 

The era of Scotish music and Scotish song is now 
passed.t The pastoral simplicity and natural genius of 
former ages no longer exist ; a total change of manners 
has taken place in all parts of the country, and servile 
imitation usurped the place of original invention. All, 
therefore, which now remains to be wished is, that in- 

* Dr Percy, in his " Essay on the Ancient English Minstrels," p. 

xxxvii., observes, that '* in the old song of * Maggy Lawder,' a piper 

is asked, by way of distinction, * come ze frae the Border ? ' " Now, 

without meaning to dispute the antiquity of the song, though it 

cannot surely be very great, it may be fairly assumed that the learned 

essayist never met with a copy, either printed or zfianuscript, so 

antiquated as to have the z substituted for the y. Any modem 

ballad, though but written yesterday, might, by this curious Chatter- 

tonian manoeuvre, (in the use or abuse of which Dr P. is supposed 

not to have been very sparing,) pass for one of two or three hundred 

years old. Maggie's question, at the same time, is not, " Come ye 

frae," but 

" Live you upo' the Border ? " 

which, it is probable, many of his profession might do, for the con- 
veniency of attending fairs and public meetings in both kingdoms. 
That this tune was popular at the Reformation, or about the middle 
of the sixteenth century, is utterly incredible. 

t Those who presume, at present, to direct the public taste in 
regard to Scotish music, seem totally insensible of the merit of the 
original songs, thinking it necessary to engage the prolific (if not 
prostituted) muse of Peter Pindar, to supply them with new words 
by contract. They have only afterward to hire some Italian fiddler, 
of equal eminence, to furnish them with tunes, and the business will 
be complete. The practice, however ingenious, is by no means 
unprecedented. See before, p. 56. 


\ 


io6 HISTORICAL ESS A Y ON 

dustry should exert itself to retrieve and illustrate the 
relics of departed genius. 

III. A few words should, and but a few can, be added 
concerning the ancient musical instruments of the Scots, 
of which, perhaps, they have at no period possessed any \ 

great variety. These instruments, in the time of Sylves- ^ 

ter Giraldus, were the harp, or cythara, tympanum, and 
chorus. The tympanum resembled the tabor, tambour 
de Basque, or tambourin, and the chorus was a sort of 
double trumpet, of which the form is preserved in Lusci- 
nius's " Musurgia," printed at Strasburg in 1536. The 
continuator of Fordun mentions James I. as a masterly 
performer on the tympanum and chorus, as well as on 
the psaltery and organ, the tibia and l5n*a, the tuba and 
fistula — words which one cannot pretend to translate — . 
adding that he touched the harp (cythara) like another 
Orpheus ;* and the translator of Boethius expressly men- 
tions, that " he was richt crafty in playing baith of the 
lute and harp, and sindry othir instrumentis of musik." 
Notwithstanding these authorities, it seems highly pro- 
bable that the harp was chiefly confined to the High- 
landers, whom, along with their Irish brethren. Major 
notices as excellent performers upon that instrument, 
although it is now totally unknown in the Highlands,t 

* 1. 16, c. 28. 

t "The last of these strolling harpers," says Mr Tytler, "was 
Rory or Roderick Dall, [/. e. blind Roderick,] who, about fifty years 
ago, was well known and much caressed by the Highland gentry, 
whose houses he firequented. His chief residence was about Blair 
in Athole, and Dunkeld. He was esteemed a good composer, and 
a fine performer on the harp, to which he sang in a pathetic man. 


SCOTISH SONG. 107 

as there appears no other evidence of its having ever 
been in use among the Lowland Scots. 

The bagpipe may be regarded as the national instru- 
ment, being a universal favourite with the people, to 
whom it has aflforded a grateful harmony for many cen- 
turies, being introduced by the royal bard among the 
disorderly festivities of " Peblis to the Play" — 

** With that Will Swane come sweitand out, 
Ane meikle miliar man, 
GiiT I sail dance, haue doune, lat se 
Blaw up the bagpyp than. * 

The young folks were also summoned out in the morn- 
ing by the same exhilarating sound — 

" The bag-pyp blew, and they out threw 
Quite from the townis vntald." - 

Thus also, in the epilogue to Sir David Lindsay's 
"Satyre of the Thrie Estaits," (written in i539,t) the 
speaker says — 

ner. Many of his songs," he adds, " are preserved in that country." 
— Dissertation, &c. See also M'Donald's essay, '* Of the Influence 
of Poetry and Music upon the Highlanders,'* prefixed to his " Col- 
lection of Highland Airs." Another blind harper, named Tuskne, 
is mentioned in one of Dr Pennecuik's poems, at the end of his 
"Description of Tweeddale," Edia 171 5. 

* From a subsequent stanza we learn that the piper would have 
been very well contented with 

" Thre happenis for half ane day ; " 

though, moderate as his demands were, they appear not to have 
been complied with; the company, which was numerous, being 
probably unable to raise a sum equal to about half an English 
fjEtrthing; for which <the musician very charitably bids "the meikill 
deuill gang with" them. 

t This date is ascertained beyond the possibility of a doubt, by a 
curious original letter from Sir William Eure to some nobleman of 


io8 HISTORICAL ESS A V ON 

" Menstrell, blaw up ane brawl of France, 
Let se quha hobbils best." * 

When or how this instrument first found its way into this 
country is almost beyond the reach of conjecture. The 
tradition of the Hebrides gives its introduction to the 
Danes or Norwegians, who were long possessed of these 

the English court, dated Berwick, 26th January [1539.] There had 
been a Border meeting at Coldstream on the 21st of that month, at 
which Sir William was informed, by Master Bellendyn, one of the 
Scotish commissioners, that "by the kinges pleasour, he being prevey 
therunto, they *had' hade ane enterluyde played in the feaste of 
the epiphane of our lorde last paste, before the king and quene at 
Lighqwoe, and the hoole counsaile spirituall and temporall." He 
likewise transmits a copy of " the nootes of the interluyde," which, 
says he, " I haue obteigned from a Scottesman of our sorte, being 
present at the pla3dng of the saide enterluyde." These notes con- 
tain a particular description of the piece in question, which evidently 
appears to have been Lindsay's " Satyre of the thrie estaits." This 
important communication is preserved in a MS. of the royal library 
in the Museum, (7 C XVI.) and clearly proves that James V. was 
better inclined to a reformation of religion than he appeared to be 
to Sir Ralph Sadler. So that it is by no means an argument of 
Mackenzie's folly to tell us that Lindsay's works were first printed 
at Edinburgh in 1540: "as if," exclaims Mr Finkerton, "works 
against the Papists could, in 1540, be printed at Edinburgh ! " With 
submission to this dashing genius, one may reasonably presume, that 
if such works could be publicly represented at Lithgow in 1539, 
they might safely be printed at Edinburgh in 1540. The expres- 
sions, inconsistent with the above date, in the Hyndford MS., must 
of course have been introduced afler the original representation. 

* It is clear, from this passage, that French dance tunes were in 
fashion at that period, as indeed we learn from another place — 

" Now hay for ioy and mirth I dance, 
Tak thair ane gamond of France.'' 

What, if any, resemblance exists between the old French and mo- 
dem Scotish music, must be left to the researches of the musical 
antiquary. 


SCOTISH SONG. 109 

islands,* which is sufficiently probable. There can be 
no question, indeed, either as to the antiquity or univer- 
sality of this instniment ; we find it to have been well 
known to the Greeks and Romans, and it is at this day 
common in Italy and Germany. It must be observed, 
however, that the pipe at present used in the low coun- 
try, or south of Scotland, is essentially different from the 
old Highland pipe, which is uniformly blown with the 
breath, whereas the former, like the Irish pipe, is filled 
by means of a bellows.t 

* McDonald's essay. 

t The merit of originality, it must be confessed, appears due to 
the Highland pipe; the other being probably of almost recent in- 
troduction. Habbie Simson, who flourished in the latter part, as it 
is supposed, of the seventeenth century, was undoubtedly a Low 
land piper; but the idea given in the title to the excellent elegy on 

his death, viz., 

" Who on his drone bore bonny flags ; 

He made his cheeks as red as crimson. 

And babbed when he blew the bags,*' 

incontestably proves that his instrument was the Highland pipe. 
The song of ** Maggie Lauder" is still more modem. It celebrates 
the performance of a famous piper, who, though he lived upon the 
Border, did not make use of a bellows ; since, we find, he played 
his part so well, that his cheeks were ''like the crimson." Para- 
doxical, therefore, as it may appear, the Lowland pipes were pro- 
bably introduced out of England, in which country this species of 
bagpipe is a veiy ancient, as it was once a very common instru- 
ment. ''As melancholy as the drone of a Lincolnshire bagpipe,'' 
is one of Falstafifs similes in the first part of Shakespeare's " King 
Henry the Fourth;"* and "a Yorkshire bagpiper" occurs in 
another proverbial saying. Performers, in short, on this instru- 
ment, which Chaucer has put into the hands of his pilgrim miller, 
(though it must be confessed that, as represented in one of the rude 
cuts in Caxton's edition, he blows the pipe with his mouth,) were 

• See also Fullex's "Worthies," p. zsa- 


1 1 o HISTORICAL ESS A Y ON 

In " The Houlate," an allegorical poem by one Hol- 
land, written about 1450, a number of musical instru- 
ments is enumerated, most, if not all, of which were 
probably then in use. The stanza alluded to is as fol- 
lows : — 

" All thus our ladye thai lofe, with lyking and lift, 
Menstralis and musicians, mo than I mene may, 
The psaltry, the citholis, the soft atharift. 
The 'croude' and the monycordis, the gythomis gay. 
The rote, and the recordour, the ribus, the rift, 
The trump, and the tabum, the tympane but tray ; 
The lilt pype, and the lute, the cithill and fift. 
The dulsate, and the dulsacordis, the schalin of affray ; 
The amyable organis usit full oft ; 
Clarions loud knelUs, 
Portatibis, and bellis, 
Cymbaellonis in the cellis, 
That soundis so ' soft.'" * 

Of the eight shepherds mentioned in Wedderburn's 
** Complainte,'' " the fyrst hed ane drone bagpipe, the 


formerly of sufficient consequence to be upon the household estab* 
lishment of the English monarchs, and are still retained by the 
Duke of Northumberland. See "Ancient Songs," p. xiii., (1790 ;) 
" Reliques of Ancient English Poetry," voL i. p. xxxvi For much 
curious and interesting information relative to the history and per- 
formance on the bagpipe, see Pennant's " Tour in Scotland" in 
part I., p. 374, (1772;) Macdonald's essay, (already cited;) Walker's 
"Historical Memoirs of the Irish Bards," p. 75; Encyclopaedia 
Britannica," article Bagpipe. 

* Scotish Poems, iii. 179, (1792.) Of these instruments some 
have been already, or will be hereafter explained, some require no 
explanation, and some are incapable of it. See ''Ancient Songs," 
p. xll, &c., (1790O The lilt -pype is, probably, the bag-pipe. Cym- 
baellonis are cymbals. It is remarkable that no mention is here 
made of the harp, which may seem to confirm the idea of its not 
being of general use in the Lowlands, even in the time of James I. 


SCOTISH SONG, iii 

nyxt hed ane pipe made of ane bleddir and of ane reid, 
the third playit on ane tramp,* the fe5rrd on ane come 

* Ane trump, is a Jew's trump, an instrument of great antiquity, 
for which see Pennant's '' Tour in Scotland" in 1769, 4to, p. 215. 
This was the favourite music of the Scotish witches in the time of 
that sapient monarch James VI. ' ' Agnes Tompson * being ' brought 
before the king's maiestie and his councell .... confessed that 
vpon the night of All hollon euen last shee was accompanied as 
well with the persons aforesaide, as also with a great many other 
witches, to the number of two hundreth ; and that they all together 
went to sea, each one in a riddle or due,* and went in the same 
very substantially, with flagons of wine, making merrie and drink- 
ing by the way in the same riddles or dues, to the kirke of North 
Barrick in Lowthian ; & that after they had landed, tooke handes 
on the lande and daunced this reill or short daunce, singing all with 

one voice, 

" Commer goe ye befor, commer goe ye, 

Gif ye will not goe before, commer let me." 

At which time shee confessed that this Geilles Duncan [a servant 
girl] did goe before them playing this reill or daunce vpon a small 
trumpe, called a Jewes trump, vntill they entred into the kerk of 
North Barrick. These confessions made the king in a wonderfull 
admiration, and sent for the saide Geillis Duncane, who vpon the 
like trump did play the saide daunce before the kinges maiestie ; 
who in respect of the strangenes of these matters, tooke great de- 
light to be present at their examination." — Newesfrom Scotland, &c., 
4to, b. L, (1591). The devil, however, being doubtless a much better 
musician than Geillis Duncane, was wont to entertain his fair vota- 
ries with the sound of the harp or bagpipe. A witch, being de- 
manded if she ever had any pleasure in the devil's company, ** Never 
much," said she ; " but one night going to a dancing upon Pent- 
land hills, he went before us, in the likeness of a rough tanny dog, 
playing on a pair of pipes : the spring he played was, ' The silly 
bit chU^en, gar cast it a pickle, and it will grow meikle.* " This 
good lady appears to have paid pretty dearly for her pleasure, had 
it been more exquisite ; she and her husband, according to the en- 

* To this passage Shakespeare was indebted for the idea of his witch sailing 
in a sieve. See " Macbeth," act z, scene 3. 


1 1 2 HISTORICAL ESS A Y ON 

pipe,* the fyft playit on ane pipe maid of ane gait home, 
the sext playit on ane recordar, [a small flute or flageolet,] 

lightened piety of the age, being both burned alive. Some of the 
Swedish witches confessed that the devil used to " play upon a harp 
before them ;" but this, it seems, was only when he was amorously 
disposed. He did not, however, always condescend to perform, 
having, like other great men, a piper retained in his service ; and 
only amusing himself with the composition of love songs, and their 
attendant airs. "A reverend minister," says our author, "told me, 
that one, who was the devil's piper, a wizard, confessed to him, 
that at a ball of dancing the foul spirit taught him a baudy song, to 
sing and play, as it were this night ; and ere two days passed, all 
the lads and lasses of the town were lilting it through the street" It 
were abomination to rehearse it. — See " Satan's Invisible World 
Discovered." It is a pity, however, that the air, at least, was not 
preserved; as we know, from Corelli's account of his most cele- 
brated sonata, that his infernal majesty is an excellent composer ; 
and the accompaniment of a Presbyterian hymn would have proved 
a sufficient antidote against its most diabolical effects. The trump 
or Jew's harp, according to both Martin and Macdonald, is the only 
musical instrument of the St Kildians. It disposes them, however, 
to dance mightily, and they have a number of reels. 

* A com pipe is a horn pipe, pipeau de corne. The instrument 
is mentioned is Spenser's " Shepherd's Calendar ;" — 

** Before them yode a lusty taberere. 
That to the many on a horne pype played, 
Whereto they dauncen eche one with his mayd, 
To see these folkes make suche jouisance. 
Made my heart after the pype to daunce." 

This, it has been conjectured, is the instrument alluded to by Ram- 
say in his " Gentle Shepherd :" — 

" When I begin to tune my stock and horn, 
With a' her face she shaws a cauldrife scorn,'* &c. 

Which he explains in a note to be " a reed or whistle, with a horn 
fixed to it by the smaller end." The figure of this instrument may 
be seen under the ingenious Mr Allan's head of Ramsay prefixed to 
his elegant edition of the " Gentle Shepherd," as well as in the first 
of those beautiful and characteristic designs with which it is oma- 


SCOTISH SONG. 113 

the seuint plait on ane fiddill, and the last plait on ane 
quhissiL" 

We learn from a curious passage in Brantome, (already 
quoted,) that the good people of Edinburgh used to 
accompany their psalms with wretched fiddles and small 
rebecs, of which he says there was no want in the coun- 
try. The vocal and instrumental performances, or rather 
poetry and music, of these godly reformers seem to have 
been admirably suited to each other. 

The violin has been encroaching for some time on the 
province and popularity of the bagpipe, and will one day 
most probably, as it has very nearly done in England, 
silence it entirely — an event which some ignorant or 
conceited pipers, by endeavouring to strain the instru- 
ment to exertions it is incapable of, seem desirous to 
accelerate.* Great praise, however, is due to the High- 
land Society for the encouragement it gives to performers 
of merit by an annual prize. 

mented. See also the vignette (by the same excellent artist) on the 
title-page of the present volume. 

Richard Brathwaite, however, (" Strappado for the Deuill," 161 5,) 
has a poem addressed " To the queen of harvest, &c, much honoured 
by the reed, com pipe, and whistle ;'' and it must be remembered 
that the shepherd bojrs of Chaucer's time had 

" many a floitc and litlyng horne. 

And pipis made of grentf corne ;" 

and also that, in the '< Midsummer Night's Dream," Titania re- 
proaches the fairy king for having 

" in the shape of Corin sate all day. 

Playing on pipes of corn, and versing love 
To amorous Phillida." 

* See " Encyclopaedia Britannica," article bagpipe, and M*Don- 

ald*s Essay, p. 14. 

H 


ri4 HISTORICAL ESSAY, ETC. 

In the hope that this investigation, which, dry, tedious, 
and imperfect as it is, will perhaps be occasionally found 
to throw a glimmering light upon a subject hitherto 
obscure, may hereafter provoke the exertions of some 
person qualified, in point of erudition, information, 
musical knowledge, taste, and language, to do it justice, 
these pages are concluded with satisfaction. 


SCOTISH SONGS 


" Then you, whose symphony of souls proclaim 
Your kiu to heaven, add to your country's fame ; 
And shew that musick may have as good fate 
In Albion's glens, as Umbria*s green retreat ; 
And with Correlli's soft Italian song 
Mix ' Cowden Knowes/ and ' Winter Nights are Long.'" 

Ramsay. 


i 


«■■ 


•^gm^m^^^^^mmr 



CLASS THE FIRST. 


1 


SONG I. 


BY WILLIAM HAMILTON OF BANGOUR, ESQ. 


Set by Count St Gbbm ain. 


firitf i r;r firfr jij^' j i ji jm 


[O] wouldst thou know her sa • cred charms, 


fi' JJ J i rT nfJr 



Who this des - tined heart a - Ianns» Who this 



^m 


des • tined heart a - larmsi What kind of nymph the 


^ 


>n\Ii J J i 


heavens de • cree. What kind of nymph the hea • 



Tr-jT 



vens 


^^V;irir 


^ 


frrrura 


de - cree, The maid that's made for love and mc. 


1 1 8 SCOTISH SONGS. 

Who pants to hear the sigh sincere, 
Who melts to see the tender tear, 
From each ungentle passion free ; 
Such the maid that 's made for me. 

Who joys whene'er she sees me glad, 
Who sorrows when she sees me sad. 
For peace and me can pomp resign ; 
Such the heart that 's made for mine. 

Whose soul with gen'rous friendship glows, 
Who feels the blessing she bestows, 
Gentle to all, but kind to me j 
Such be mine, if such there be. 

Whose genuine thoughts, devoid of art. 
Are all the natives of her heart, 
A simple train, from falsehood free ; 
Such the maid that 's made for me. 

Avaunt, ye light coquets, retire. 
Whom glittering fops around admire, 
Unmov'd your tinsel charms I see. 
More genuine beauties are for me. 

Should Love, fantastic as he is. 
Raise up some rival to my bliss, 
And should she change, but can that be % 
No other maid is made for me. 


^»^^^"^^lfi 


m iwi 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


119 


SONG II. 

BY ALLAN RAMSAY.** 


Tune— "The waukin' o' the fauld. 


>» 


S 


t 


s 


K=l^ 


UliUJui 


ens, Fa 


My Peg - gy is a young thing. Just en-ter'd in her teens, Fair 


^J^.J'iV^J-j^^j^lJ-J'iV^J-J^^■J- 


as the day, and sweet as May, Fair as the day, and al- ways gay. My 


i^yn^n j'-iU'j'j'p r :ri 


Peg-gy is a young thing. And I'm no ve - ry auld, Yet 


i f>^^^ f' c r t f' ^' 


^ 


weel I like to meet her at The wauk - in* o' the fauld. 


^)^ n g 


U U '^ 


H4^^^ 


^ 


^ 


My Peg* gy speaks sae sweet - ly, When-e'er we meet a - lane, I 


^ ^ ^ t 


wishnae mair to lay my care, I wish nae mair o' a' that's rare. My 


^ 


^ 


? 



Peg - gy speaks sae sweet - ly, To a' the lave I 'm cauld ; But 


k^^ f c. r ?■ ^' ^ 


±=jt 


she gars a' my spi - rits glow, At wauk - in o' the fauld. 
In the "Gentle Shepherd." 


120 


SCOTISff SONGS. 


My Peggy smiles sae kindly, 

Whene'er I whisper love, 

That I look down on a' the toun, 

That I look down upon a croun. 

My Peggy smiles sae kindly, 

It makes me blythe and bauld, 
And naething gi'es me sic delight, 
As waukin* o* the fauld. 

My Peggy sings sae saftly. 
When on my pipe I play ; 
By a' the rest, it is confest. 
By a* the rest, that she sings best. 
My Peggy sings sae saftly, 

And in her sangs are tauld 
Wi' innocence the wale of sense. 
At waukin' o' the fauld. 


a 


^ 


3 


SONG III. 

TWEEDSIDE.* 

BY ROBERT CRAWFORD. 

^r 


^M 


i 


t 


^ 


What beau • ties does Flo • ra dis - close I How sweet are her 


tffe- J' :r i ^^ gt^ 


^^^ 


smiles up - on Tweed I Yet Ma - ry *s still sweet - er than 

♦ Several of the ideas in this beautiful pastoral are closely imi- 
tated from Solomon's song. 


S 


SCOTJSH SONGS, 


121 


J' ''l J^'l ■! - P i 


^m 


f 


those, Both na - ture and fan - cy ex - ceed. Nor 



tfij^^rf i 'i "^ ! 


flowers of the field, Not Tweed glid - ing gent - ly thro' 


JVi nil II nil 


those, Such beau - ty 


i 


and plea - sure does yield. 


The warblers are heard in the grove, 

The linnet, the lark, and the thrush, 
The blackbird, and sweet cooing dove. 

With musick enchant eVry bush. 
Come, let us go forth to the mead, 

Let us see how the primroses spring ; 
We '11 lodge in some village on Tweed, 

And love while the feathered folks sing. 


How does my love pass the long day 1 

Does Mary not tend a few sheep 1 
Do they never carelessly stray. 

While happily she lies asleep ? 
Tweed's murmurs should lull her to rest ; 

Kind nature indulging my bliss, 
To relieve the soft pains of my breast, 

I 'd steal an ambrosial kiss. 


122 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


'Tis she does the virgins excel, 

No beauty with her may compare ; 
Love's graces around her do dwell, 

She 's fairest where thousands are fair. 
Say, charmer, where do thy flocks stray? 

Oh I tell me at noon where they feed ; 
Shall I seek them on sweet winding Tay, 

Or the pleasanter banks of the Tweed ! 


SONG IV. 


TO MRS A. H. ON SEEING HER AT A CONCERT. 


BY ROBERT CRAWFORD. 


Tune— "The Bonniest Lass in a' the Warld." 


fl i t ;] i J jjTT^ 


Look where my dear Ha - mil - la smiles. Ha - mil - la 


- la smiles, H 


^>^ f J* ^ 


r [i 'm j c [U i 


hea - ven - ly charm -er; See how with all their 


^ 


arts and wiles 


The 


[ f r; ! ^;' J II en 


Loves and Grac - es arm her. A 


^,^ IT c j fcf c I r:r c rJ cirffJ 


blush dwells glow - ing on her cheeks. Fair seats of 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


123 


j ;>i[; n-if r; I :r-Q-^ ^ pu 


youth - ful plea-sttres, There Love in 


smll - ing 



Ian - guage speaks, ^ere spreads his 


ros - y trea-sures. 


O fairest maid, I own thy pow'r, 

I gaze, I sigh, and languish, 
Yet ever, ever will adore, 

And triumph in my anguish. 
But ease, O charmer, ease my care. 

And let my torments move thee ; 
As thou art fairest of the fair. 

So I the dearest love thee. 


SONG V. 


AN THOU WERE MY AIN THING. 


^li-J^? (I ^ ^^ 


t 


^ 


^m 


An thou were my ain thing, I would lo'e thee, 

t5= 



X 


^^ 


I would lo'e thee; An thou were my ain thing. How 


I ^ • g/ r'c c^ I re f 


dear - ly would I 


lo'e thee ! Of race di • vine thou 


124 


SCOTISH SONGS, 


^f J. ji r^r r- r I rr^ 


needs must be, Since no- thing earth-Iy e - quals thee ; For hea- ven's 

-#■ ^ >— . Da Capo. 


m 


^s 


Q: 


Q: 


sake, oh! fa - vour me, Who on- ly "live" to lo'c thee. 


The gods one thing peculiar have, 
To ruin none whom they can save ; 
O ! for their sake, support a slave, 
Who only lives to lo'e thee. 
An thou were, &c. 

To merit I no claim can make, 
But that I love; and, for " thy" sake. 
What man can name I '11 undertake, 
So dearly do I lo'e thee. 
An thou were, &c. 


My passion, constant as the sun, 
Flames stronger still, will ne'er have done, 
Till Fates my thread of life have spun, 
Which breathing out I '11 lo'e thee, 
An thou were, &c. 


SCOTISff SONGS, 


"S 


SONG VI. 


THE YELLOW-HAIR'D LADDIE.* 


BY ALLAN RAMSAY. 


^''itj]ijJ^iLrc^ 



In A * prilt when prim • ros < es paint the sweet 


#^JJJlJj;Ai^-C ^r | H^; l 


plain, And sum - mer ap - proach - ing re - joic - eth the 
'ff if e ^ II ^ P 



times go. To wilds and deep glens, where the 


deep glens. 


il^i;ij ]-jj i ji iJ ^ m 


I 


haw - thorn trees grow. haw - thorn trees grow. 


♦ THE AULD YELLOW-HAIR'D LADDIE. 

The yellow-hair'd laddie sat down on yon brae. 
Cries, Milk the ewes, lassie, let nane of them gae ; 
And aye she nulked, and aye she sang. 
The yellow-hair'd laddie shall be my gudeman. 
And aye she milked, &c. 

The weather is cauld, and my claithin' is thin ; 
The ewes are new clipped, they winna bught in ; 
They winna bught in, tho' I should dee : 
O yellow-hair'd laddie, be kind to me. 

They winna bught in, &c. 


1 26 SCOTISH SONGS, 

There, under the shade of an old sacred thorn, 
With freedom he sang his loves evening and mom ; 
He sang with so soil and enchanting a sound. 
That sylvans and fairies unseen danced around. 

The shepherd thus sang, Though young Maya be fair. 
Her beauty is dash'd with a scornful, proud air ; 
But Susie was handsome, and sweetly could sing, 
Her breath like the breezes perfumed in the spring. 

That Madie, in all the gay bloom of her youth, 
Like the moon was unconstant, and never spoke truth ; 
But Susie was faithful, good-humour'd, and free, 
And fair as the goddess who sprang from the sea. 

That mamma's fine daughter, with all her great dowV, 
Was awkwardly airy, and frequently sour ; 
Then, sighing, he wished, would parents agree, 
The witty sweet Susie his mistress might be. 


The gudewife cries butt the house, Jenny, come ben, 
The cheese is to mak, and the butter 's to kirn ; 
Tho' butter, and cheese, and a' should sour, 
1 11 crack and kiss wi' my love ae hauf hour ; 
It's ae hauf hour, and we'se e'en mak it three, 
For the yellow-haiz'd laddie my husband shall be. 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


127 


SONG VII. 


KATHARINE OGIE. 


if,>n ji I J J.3 J . ." I ^r j:^ J Jl | r -g 


As walk- ing forth to view the plain, Up - on a 



^^m 


mom - ing ear - lyi While May's sweet scent did cheer my 


m 


l y *'^ I J r i l l: J * I [^gr- 


brain, From flowers which grow so rare-ly, 


I chanced to 


ijHiJUiL^^^f I J . p If ;3 i 


meet a pret - ty maid, She shin'd tho' it was 


^mJ'J Jl i rr ^ J.JiJ:^^ r 


fo - gie ; I ask'd her name. Sweet sir, ' she said. 


if'LjIff L-^.^ 


My name 


is 


Kath - arine 


O • gie. 


I Stood a while, and did admire 

To see a nymph so stately ; 
So brisk an air there did appear 

In a country maid so neatly : 
Such natural sweetness she display'd, 

Like a lily in a bogie ; 
Diana's self was ne'er array'd 

Like this same Katharine Ogie. 


1 28 SCOTISH SONGS, 

Thou flow'r of females, beauty's queen, 

Who sees thee sure must prize thee ; 
Tho' thou art drest in robes but mean, 

Yet these cannot disguise thee : 
Thy handsome air, and graceful look, 

Far excels any clownish rogie ; 
Thou 'rt match for laird, or lord, or duke, 

My charming Katharine Ogie. 

were I but some shepherd swain. 
To feed my flock beside thee, 

At bughting time to leave the plain, 
In milking to abide thee ; 

1 'd think myself a happier man, 

With Kate, my club, and dogie, 
Than he that hugs his thousands ten. 
Had I but Katharine Ogie. 

Then I*d despise th' imperial throne, 

And statesmen's dangerous stations ; 
I 'd be no king, I 'd wear no crown, 

I 'd smile at conquering nations ; 
Might I caress and still possess 

This lass, of whom I 'm vogie ; 
For the^e are toys, and still look less 

Compafd with Katharine Ogie. 

Bjit I fear the gods have not decree'd 

For me so fine a creature, 
Whose beauty rare makes her exceed 

All other works of nature : 


SCOTISH SONGS. 

Clouds of despair surround my love, 
That are both dark and fogie ; 

Pity my case, ye powers above ! 
Else I die for Katharine Ogie. 


129 


SONG VIIL 

THE LASS O* PATIE'S MILL. 


BY ALLAN RAMSAY. 


i Mi :^:i m 



The lass o* Pa - tie's mill, Sae bon - nie, blyth, and 


Wiim^ 


i 


EtfTta^H 


gay, In spite 0' a* my skill. She stole my heart a- 

* • - •■ 


ft iir.i^r ^r ^irpr jj 



head - ed on the green, Love 'midst her 


#LCj j Mi'j^ iJ J'^ 


locks did play. And wan - ton'd in her een. 

Her arms, white, round and smooth. 
Breasts rising in their dawn. 

To age it would give youth. 
To press them with his hand. 


mm 


130 SCOTISH SONGS, 

Thro' all my spirits ran 

An ecstasy of bliss, 
When I such sweetness fand 

Wrapt in a balmy kiss. 

Without the help of art, 

Like flowers which grace the wild, 
She did her sweets impart, 

Whene'er she spoke or smiled. 
Her looks they were so mild, 

Free from affected pride ; 
She me to love beguiled, 

I wish'd her for my bride. 

Oh, had I all that wealth 

Hopetoun's high mountains* fill, 
Insured long life and health. 

And pleasure at my will ; 
I 'd promise and fulfil, 

That none but bonnie she. 
The lass o' Patie's mill. 

Should share the same wi' me. 

* ** Thirty- three miles south-west of Edinburgh, where the Right 
Honourable the Earl of Hopetoun's mines of gold and lead are." — 
Ramsay, 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


131 


SONG IX. 

ON CELIA PLAYING ON THE HARPSICHORD AND 

SINGING. 


BY TOBIAS SMOLLETT, M.D. 


Moderato. 


Set by Mr Shield. 



i 


1 


When Sap.pho struck the 


qui - vring wire, The 


^ 


?^ 


jlLl^ \ \ \^\Tt-^ 


m». 


throb • bing breast was all on fire : And when she 

n Jf CTfS, 

w p ' hi 


p'nyi : : r ^ i ff iHr ^ i 


raised the vo - cal lay, The cap - tive soul was 


^f ^r-cif c? r rir|.cr-c; 


:M 


chann'd a * way : And when she raised the 


i 


t 


^ 


vo - cal 
ft- 


^ 


t 


lay, The cap - tive soul was charm'd a - way. 

But had the nymph possessed with these 
Thy softer, chaster power to please ; 
Thy beauteous air of sprightly youth ; 
Thy native smiles of artless truth ; 

The worm of grief had never prey'd 
On the forsaken, love-sick maid : 
Nor had she moum'd a hapless flame, 
Nor dash'd on rocks her tender frame. 


1 3 2 SCOTISH SONGS. 

SONG X. 

BY ALLAN RAMSAY.* 
Tune — " Winter was canld, and my claithin* was thin." f 

Peggy. 

When first my dear laddie gaed to Uie green hill, 
And I at ewe-milking first sa/d my young skill, 
To bear the milk-bowie nae pain was to me, 
When I at the bughtin' forgathered with thee. 

Patie. 

When com-riggs waved yellow, and blue heatherbells 
Bloom'd bonnie on moorland and sweet rising fells, 
Nae bims, briers, or breckans gied trouble to me, 
If I found the berries right ripen'd for thee. 

Peggy. 

When thou ran or wrestled, or putted the stane, 
And cam' aff the victor, my heart was aye fain ; 
Thy ilka sport manly gied pleasure to me, 
For nane can putt, wrestle, or run swift as thee. 

Patie. 

Our Jenny sings saftly the " Cowden Broom-Knowes," 
And Rosie lilts swiftly the " Milking the Ewes ;" 
There 's few " Jenny Nettles" like Nancy can sing. 
At " Thro' the Wood, Laddie," Bess gars our lugs ring : 

* In the ** GenUe Shepherd." f See note p. 125. 


SCOT/SB SOJ\rGS. 


^33 


But when my dear Peggy sings, wi' better skill, 

The " Boatman," " Tweedside," or the " Lass o' the 

Mill," 
It 's mony times sweeter and pleasin* to me ; 
For tho' they sing nicely, they cannot like thee. 

Peggy. 

How easy can lassies trow what they desire ! 
And praises sae kindly increases love's fire : 
Gie me still this pleasure, my study shall be 
To mak' myself better and sweeter for thee. 


SONG XL 


ETTRICK BANKS. 


fr^ij i j.j. , iiA!: a f f \ i-fi 


On £t • trick banks, on a sum - mer's night, At gloam • in' 


ifi'f ji'Jj: jji i 


^^ 


^ 


when the sheep drave hame, I met my lass - ie ))raw and 




E 


tight. Come wad 


• in'. Dare • foot, a' her lane : 


My 




li ^ ^ i:\\ 


heart grew light, I ran, I flang My arms a - bout 


".-.vr. 


fc- ^ -J 


134 


i 




i 


I 


^ 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


^ 


m 


t 


B 


:•; r n 1 


her 


U 


ly neck, And kiss'd and clapped her 


fff P c ^f l J ^^ 


there fu' lang, My words they were na mo - ny feck. 


I said, My lassie, will ye gang 

To the Highland hills, the Earse to learn ? 
I '11 gie thee baith a cow and ewe, 

When ye come to the Brig o' Earn. 
At Leith auld meal comes in, ne'er fash. 

And herrings at the Broomielaw ; 
Cheer up your heart, my bonnie lass. 

There 's gear to win ye never saw. 


A' day when we hae wrought eneugh, 

When winter frosts and snaws begin, 
Soon as the sun gaes west the loch. 

At night when ye sit down to spin, 
I '11 screw my pipes and play a spring ; 

And thus the weary night will end. 
Till the tender kid and lamb time bring 

Our pleasant simmer back again. 


Syne, when the trees are in their bloom, 
And gowans glint o'er ilka fieF, 

I '11 meet my lass amang the broom. 
And lead you to my summer shiel' : ' 


SCOTISir SONGS. 

Then far frae a' their scornfu' din, 

That mak the kindly hearts their sport, 

We 11 laugh and kiss, and dance and sing. 
And gar the langest day seem short. 


135 


SONGS XII. AND XIII. 


THE YOUNG LAIRD AND EDINBURGH KATIE. 


BY ALLAN RAMSAY. 


i)^'^\^ Jlj-^ 


S=l 


m 


Now wat ye wha I met yes-treen, Com-in' down the 


i 


t 


^ 


^ 


^ 


Nr— 


T-W 


street, my jo 1 My mis - tress in her tar - tan screen, Fu' 


P 


^ 


g^ 



m 


bon - nie, braw, and sweet, my jo. My dear, quoth I, thanks 




I 


r r^M c 


to the night. That ne - ver wish'd a lo - ver ill, Sin* ye 're out 


^^''Cf'^^ i f r r'nrr;r ju j j 


o' your mi - ther's sight, Let 's talc a walk up to the hill. 

O Katie, wilt thou gang wi' me, 
And leave the dinsome toun a while 1 

The blossom 's sproutin' frae the tree. 
And a' the simmer's gaun to smile : 


136 SCOTISH SONGS. 

The mavis, nightingale, and lark, 
The bleatin* lambs, and whistlin* hynd. 

In ilka dale, green shaw, and park. 
Will nourish health, and glad your mind. 

Soon as the clear gudeman o' day 

Does bend his momin^ draught o' dew, 
We '11 gae to some bumside and play. 

And gather flowers to busk your brow : 
We *11 pou the daisies on the green. 

The lucken gowans frae the bog ; 
Between hands now and then we'll lean, 

And sport upon the velvet fog. 

There 's up into a pleasant glen, 

A wee piece frae my father's tower, 
A canny, saft, and flowery den. 

Which circlin' birks have form'd a bower : 
Whene'er the sun grows high and warm. 

We '11 to the caller shade remove ; 
There will I lock thee in mine arm, 

And love and kiss, and kiss and love. 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


137 


KATIE'S ANSWER. 


BY ALLAN RAMSAY. 


itii \ i^i-i !i\ jirr'f rir g 


My mi-ther's aye glow - rin* o'er me, Tho* she did 


j^^TTiM I nf I ^ 


the same be - fore me ; I can - na get leave To 



look to my lovCf Or else she'd be like to de 


f ^■■'rK'^ 


it n n 


vour me. Right fain wad I tak your of - fer, Sweet 


m 


H f 


^ 


fe^ 


f 


n 


m 


sir, but I'll tyne my to>cher; Then, San-dy, ye'il fret, And 


l^r ^ :TTV^ 


^ 


^ 


wyte your poor Kate, When-e'er ye keek in your toom cof - fer. 


For tho' my father has plenty 
Of siller and plenishin' dainty, 

Yet he 's unco sweir 

To twin wi' his gear ; 
And sae we had need to be tenty. 


'smm 


138 


SCOTISff SONGS. 

Tutor my parents wi^ caution, 

Be wylie in ilka motion ; 
Brag weel o' ye'r land, 
And there ^s my leal hand, 

Win them, I '11 be at your devotion. 


SONG XIV. 


BY JOSEPH MITCHELL. 

Tune—" Pinkie House." 



By 


Pin - kie House oft 


let me walk. While, 


yf •'■J*' ^ 


'!^ \ l) Hi i h\ 


cir - cled in my arms, I hear my Nell • y 

tr 


ft Ji: i J rr i ^-jj ^ m 


sweet - ly talk, And gaze on all her charms. 


Oh, let 


let me ev 


- er fond be -hold Those 



sweet • ly hold In will . log chains my heart. 


SCOTISH SONGS. 139 

Oh come, my love ! and bring anew 

That gentle turn of mind ; 
That gracefulness of air, in you 

By Nature's hand design'd. 
What beauty, like the blushing rose, 

First lighted up this flame, 
Which, like the sun, for ever glows 

Within my breast the same ! 

Ye light coquettes ! ye airy things ! 

How vain is all your art ! 
How seldom it a lover brings ! 

How rarely keeps a heart ! 
Oh, gather from my Nelly's charms, 

That sweet, that graceful ease ; 
That blushing modesty that warms ; 

That native art to please 1 

Come, then, my love 1 oh, come along ! 

And feed me with thy charms ; 
Come, fair inspirer of my song ! 

Oh, fill my longing arms ! 
A flame like mine can never die. 

While charms so bright as thine, 
So heav'nly fair, both please the eye, 

And fill the soul divine. 


140 


SCOTISff SONGS. 


SONG XV. 


Tune—" The Banks of the Forth." ♦ 


I 


iit^jjij J] J f frffff-r rr^ 


A - waket my love ; with ge * nial ray The 



^m 


SB 


sun, re - turn - ing, glads the day; A - wake, the 


t 


m 


balm - y ze - phyr blows, The haw - thorn blooms, the 


^h r ^ Js J I I J I fTr -c t ' l^ J' l ^ f. 


dai - sy glows, The trees re - gain their ver - dant 



' j.j'jjpc i>j j' i ;jfy F'i^ 


bride, To love each war - bier tunes the song, And 



Forth 


in dim - pies 


pies glides a - 



a - long. 


Composed by Mr Oswald. 


SCOT/SJI SONGS. 

Oh more than blooming daisies fair ! 
More fragrant than the vernal air ! 
More gentle than the turtle-dove, 
Or streams that murmur through the grove ! 
Bethink thee, all is on the wing, 
These pleasures wait on wasting spring ; 
Then come, the transient bliss enjoy ; 
Nor fear what fleets so fast will cloy. 


141 


SONG XVI. 


BY DAVID MALLET. 


Tune—** The Birks of Invermay." 


^m 


m 


'J|rrrN.'IJ^]i 


P 


The smil-ing morn, the breath-ing spring, In • vite the 


s 


i 


HJC Jir'^C;^lc ; i 


tune - ful birds to sing : And while they war • ble from each 


i 


n 


;=* 


spray, Love melts 


melts ue u • ni - ver - sal lay. Let 


n 


if)'' j, J: JX ^'1 ^r ^^ ■ '' I ^ 



us, A - man - da, time - ly wise. Like them, im< 


142 


SCOTISff SONGS. 


a 


i|¥f;^r^f^ f Mrr^^ 


prove the hour that flies, And| in soft rap-tures, 


iH^i^\[j\i'\ni^ \ ^^it 


waste the day, A - mong the shades of In - ver - may. 

For soon the winter of the year, 
And age, life's winter, will appear ; 
At this thy living bloom must fade, 
As that will strip the verdant shade. 
Our taste of pleasure then is o'er ; 
The feather'd songsters love no more ; 
And when they droop, and we decay. 
Adieu the shades of Invermay ! 


SONG XVII. 


AN ADDRESS TO HIS MISTRESS. 


BY WILLIAM FALCONER. 


Set by Mr Shield. 


ynj i jj/Jriii c f J3J.J1J J r[Ti 


The smil - ing plains, pro-fuse * ly gay, Are dress'd in all the 



1 n rr r I p# Ji i h 


pride of May ; The birds on ev* - ry spray a - bove To 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


U3 


|» J J r ff 


^ 


rap - ture wake the vo - cal grove. But, ah, Mi - ran - da. 


i » .(;.;] j,j. i ;jfff ;ff | J j j. C | 


with • out thee, Nor spring nor sum - mer smiles on me ; All 



lone - ly In the se-cret shade, I mourn thy ab-sence, chann-ing maid. 


Oh soft as love ! as honour fair ! 
Serenely sweet as vernal air ! 
Come to my arms, for you alone 
Can all my " anguish'' past atone ! 

Oh come ! and to my bleeding heart 
The sovereign balm of love impart ; 
Thy presence lasting joy can bring, 
And give the year eternal spring ! 


te 


SONG XVIII. 


BY JAMES THOMSON. 
Tune—" Logan Water." 


fj i J -II i J' 


^ 


m 


m 


Ol 


i 


^ 


For e - ver. For -tune, wilt tnou prove An un - re- 


tffMCEf^rCf l CfJj ; 


lent - ing foe to love ; And when we meet a mu - tual 


144 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


heart, Come in be • tween, and bid us part : Bid us sigh 


^ 


on from 


^/ J] J J.f' l ' J J-'^'li^ ^ 


day to day, And wish, and wish the soul a -way; Till 


i/^ I r CJ | J^J^ nJiiflf. 


youth and ge - nial years are flown, And all the 


*: 


m r,\' JJ J 


life of life is gone? 

But busy, busy still art thou, 
To bind the loveless, joyless vow, 
The heart from pleasure to delude. 
And join the gentle to the rude. 

For once, O Fortune, hear my prayer, 
And I absolve thy future care ; 
All other blessings I resign, 
Make but the dear Amanda mine. 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


145 


SONG XIX. 


Tune— *' Cumbernauld House." 


ps ;j|J3 fi' rj.IJijjj i-i r.r i 


From anx - ions zeal and iac - tious strife, And 


r r- f r/ \: ■ Jj 1 ]■] jn jj 1 Js f/ 


all th'un -eas • y cares of life, From beau - ty 


fi:-i''i\pifihi\t:tii!'i-i \ 


stiU to me - rit blind. And still to fools and 


cox - combs kind rXo where the 



woods, in bright - est green. Like 


4!'rff'rt^ i rrrrf i :ftfff6f i 


ris - ing the - a - tres are seen. Where gent - ly mur*m'ring 


l« iia sf ;j itfUfj^^ 



runs the rill, And draws fresh streams from ev' - ry hill. 

Where Philomel, in mournful strains, 

Like me, of hopeless love complains, 

Retired I pass the livelong day. 

And idly trifle life away : 

My lyre to tender accents strung, 

I tell each slight, each scorn and wrong, 

Then reason to my aid I call. 

Review past scenes, and scorn them all. 


146 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


Superior thoughts my mind engage, 
Allured by Newton's tempting page, 
Through new-found worlds I wing my flight, 
And trace the glorious source of light ; 
But should Clarinda there appear, 
With all her charms of shape and air. 
How frail my fix'd resolves would prove f 
Again I 'd yield, again I *d love ! 


SONG XX. 


BY WILLIAM HAMILTON OF BANGOUR. 


Slow* 

r 


Set by Mr Shield. 


t- 


i 


7nri!f,NrJic,is^ 


Go, plain-tive sounds, and to the fair My se-cret wounds im- 


m 


^ 


part ; Tell all I hope, tell all I fear. Each mo - tion 


f^^^u^ii 


t 


^ 


^ 


m 


in my heart. But she methinks is listening now To some enchanting 

tr 


s 


4- 


^^ 


E 


i=t=» 


? 


Strain, The smile that triumphs o'er her brow,Seems not to heed my pain. 


The last verse to be sung a little quicker. 


SCOTISff SONGS. 147 

Yes, plaintive sounds, yet, yet delay, 

Howe'er my love repine, 
Let that gay minute pass away, 

The next perhaps is thine. 
Yes, plaintive sounds, no longer cross'd, 

Your griefs shall soon be o'er, 
Her cheek, undimpled now, has lost 

The smile it lately wore. 

Yes, plaintive sounds, she now is yours, 

'Tis now your time to move ; 
Essay to soften all her powers, 

And be that softness love. 
Cease, plaintive sounds, your task is done, 

That anxious tender air 
Proves o'er her heart the conquest won, 

I see you melting there. 

Return, ye smiles, return again. 

Return each sprightly grace, 
I yield up to your charming reign, 

All that enchanting face. 
I take no outward show amiss, 

Rove where they will her eyes, 
Still let her smiles each shepherd bless, 

So she but hear my sighs. 


148 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


SONG XXI. 


BLINK OVER THE BURN, SWEET BETTY. 


m 


nt: \ ,iku f^n ^ 


In sum • mer I mawed my mea - dow, In bar - vest 


#fgt^ fT n ^f fe 


t 



shure my corn. In win - ter I mar • ried a 


I'r j:! \ r^ts\n m 


m 


wi - dow, I wish I was free the mom ! Blink 


i 


i 


3 


^ 


■g c/ir r J] 


§ 


o - ver the bum, sweet Bet - ty, Blink o - ver the 


i 


I 



S 



n J./3IJ cy I 


bum to 


me: Oh, it is a thou • sand 


jf'r-f "y-' 


s 


pi-ties But I was a wi - dow for thee. 


SCOTISff SONGS, 


149 


SONG XXII. 


LOW DOUN IN THE BROOM. 


BY JAMES CARNEGIE. 


Lively, 


fe 




My dad -die is a can-ker'd carle, Hell nae twin wi' his 


m 


^^ 


M««a« m^^^ ^n^ '0 ^ 0^%«» 1^ _ mv%nr mmwmF^ 


^=:K 


S 


gear; My iiun-ni« she's a scald- ing wife, Hauds a* the house 


§ I r ■ II J' I c ^^- nr^^r^^ 


a • steer: But let them say, or let them do. It's 


|,j vu g'^rr g p j',,p j.;. | 


a' ane to me; For he's low doun, he's in the broom, That's 

/TV 


j) ^ ^^ i 1 Ij J- ,^^ 


PSr^ 


Ttiiut 


Mrait - in' on me : Wait - in* on me, my love. He *s wait - in' on 


# f Ff c i j J' H' I! ' J' J'N J'c ri 


me. For he's low doun, he's in the broom, That 's wait- in' on me. 

My auntie Kate sits at her wheel, 

And sair she lightlies me ; 
But weel ken I it 's a' envy, 

For ne*er a jo has she. 
But let them, &c. 


-*-•:« 


I50 


SCOTISH SONGS. 

My cousin Kate was sair beguiled 

Wi' Johnnie o* the glen ; 
And aye sin s)me she cries, Beware 

Of fause deluding men. 
But let them, &c 

Gleed Sandy he cam wast ae night, 
And spier'd when I saw Pate ; 

And aye sin syne the neighbours round 
They jeer me air and late. 
But let them, &c. 


SONG XXIII. 


AYE WAKIN', OH. 


fet-f J'.jN i ." j-fp N i r p 


Aye wak - in' oh, Wak - in* aye and wea - rie. Sleep I 


^^ Jv j^pic rJLg : |;iig c V . 


can - na get» For think - in' o' my dea - rie. When I sleep 


m 


t 


t: 


P C '^'l I p 


^ 


I dream. When I wake I 'm ee • rie ; Rest I can - na 

Da Cape. 


i» J' p I c p f J ^ 


get, For think - in* o* my dear - ie. 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


151 


SONG XXIV. 


WILL YE GO TO FLANDERS, MY MALLY, O? 


Slow. 


f<'' l'^ I I [ 


^ 


^ 


Will ye go to Flan - ders My Mai - ly, O? 


i 


E 


JET 


^ 



Will ye go to Flan-ders, my bon - nie Mai - ly, O ? There 



we '11 get wine and bran - dy. And sack and su - gar • can - dy. 


i 


I 


t 


^ 


Will ye go to Flan - ders, my Mai - ly, O ? 


Will ye go to Flanders, my Mally, O ? 

And see the chief commanders, my Mally, O ? 
You'll see the bullets fly, 
And the soldiers how they die, 

And the ladies loudly cry, my Mally, O. 


152 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


$ 


1= 


SONG XXV. 

EWE-BUGHTS, MARION. 

fr 


<^-i^-N 


m 


^ 


Will ye go to the ewe-bughts, Ma - rion. And wear in 


N^ 


P 


'^m /9 


s 


B 


the sheep wi' me? The siin shines sweet, my Ma - rion. 


jfi'^ l ' iSUh^ 


•f^ 


t 


r-r yr 


But nae half sae sweet as thee. Oh Ma • ri -on's a 


#r J- J i ^j^c, i i [j [J ^'^'1 


bon - nie lass, And the blythe blink's in her 


i 


I 


i 


M rr r c r irrj ^^ 


e'e ; And fain wad I mar • ry Mar - ri • on. 


Gin M{ 


f 


s 


Ma • rion wad mar • ry 


^ 


=?E=^=^ 


me. 


There 's gowd in your garters, Marion, 

And silk on your white-hause bane ; 
Fu' fain wad I kiss my Marion, 

At e'en when I come hame. 
There 's braw lads in Eamslaw, Marion, 

Wha gape, and glower with their e'e. 
At kirk when they see my Marion ; 

But nane of them loves like me. 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


153 


I Ve nine milk ewes, my Marion, 

A cow and a brawny quey ; 
1 11 gi'e them a' to my Marion, 

Just on her bridal day ; 
And ye 'se get a green sey apron, 

And waistcoat o' London broun. 
And wow but ye '11 be vap'rin'. 

Whene'er ye gang to the toun. 


I *m young and stout, my Marion ; 

Nane dances like me on the green ; 
And gin ye forsake me, Marion, 

1 11 e'en gae draw up wi' Jean ; 
Sae put on your pearlins, Marion, 

And kyrtle o' cramasie ; 
And soon as my chin has nae hair on, 

I shall come west, and see ye. 


#^j'. jHj 


K=fS 


:^ 


w-^ 


m 


^ 


Will ye go to the ewe - bughts, Ma • rion, And 


4^ i n;i^J i .^ 


wear in the sheep wi' me? The sun shines sweet, my 


m 


*=fe 


j^g l ^i ■r/jli^j.rfl^ 


Ma-rion, But nae half sae sweet as 


thee. The sun 


^JJ|^fJ?|;JJ-f | ^r^ p^ 


shines sweet, my Ma-rion,But nae half sae sweet as thee. 


1 5 4 SCO TISH SONGS, 


SONG XXVI. 

Tune—" To daunton me." • 

Alas ! when charming Sylvia's gone, 

I sigh and think myself undone ; 

But when the lovely n)rmph is here, 

I *m pleased, yet grieve j and hope, yet fear, 

Thoughtless of all but her I rove : 

Ah ! tell me, is not this call'd love ? 

Ah me ! what power can move me so '^ 
I die with grief when she must go. 
But I revive at her return ; 
I smile, I freeze, I pant, I burn : 
Transports so strong, so sweet, so new, 
Say, can they be to friendship due ? 

Ah no ! 'tis love, 'tis now too plain, 

I feel, I feel the pleasing pain ; 

For who e'er saw bright Sylvia's eyes, 

But wish'd, and long'd, and was her prize 1 

Gods, if the truest must be bless'd, 

O let her be by me possessed. 

♦ See Song XXXIV., Class III. 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


155 


SONG XXVII. 

TO A LADY,* ON HER TAKING SOMETHING ILL 
THAT MR H. HAD SAID. 

BY WILLIAM HAMILTON OF BANGOUR. 
Tune—** Hallowe'en." 


Why hangs that cloud np - on \ 


^^ 


np - on thy brow> That beau-teous 


^P 


•3 J ^ I J fl ^ ^ 


heav*n ere - while sc - rene? Whence do these stonns and 


i 


fc 


£ 


^ 


I J J :jIj J'J J 


tern • pests blow? Or what this gust of pas - sion mean? 


^^s 


^ 


^ 


And must then man > kind lose that light, Which 


f J.f'f;jj i j;.jjfrii]^j rjf J' 

■ « • ^^^ • a »^^'* mm m ■ • 


in thine eyes was wont to shine, And lie ob - scured in 



end • less night, For each poor sil 


ly speech of mine ? 


Dear child, how could I wrong thy name 1 
Thy form so fair, and faultless stands, 

That could ill tongues abuse thy fame, 
Thy beauty would make large amends : 

* Mrs S. H. — Ramsay, 


I S6 SCOTISIf SOJ\rGS. 

Or if I durst profanely try 

Thy beauty's powerful charms t' upbraid, 
Thy virtue well might give the lie, 

Nor call thy beauty to its aid. 

For Venus every heart t' ensnare, 

With all her charms has decked thy face. 
And Pallas, with unusual care. 

Bids wisdom heighten every grace. 
Who can the double pain endure ? 

Or who must not resign the field 
To thee, celestial maid, secure 

With Cupid's bow and Pallas* shield 1 

If then to thee such power is given. 

Let not a wretch in torment live. 
But smile, and learn to copy Heaven, 

Since we must sin ere it forgive. 
Yet pitying Heaven not only does 

Forgive th' offender and th* offence. 
But even itself appeased bestows, 

As the reward of penitence. 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


157 


SONG XXVIII. 


HAUD AWA' FRAE ME, DONALD.* 


i 


E 


* 


^ 


t 


5 


u 


i 


Oh come a 


f c glC; ^^ r i 


s 


wa', come a • wa', Come a - wa' wi' 



me, Jen - ny ; Sic frowns I 


I J.pUJ ^ JJ N 


can • na bear frae 


I 


i 


ane, Whase smiles ance ra • vish'd 


me, Jen - ny. 


fj rr i f r 


If you Ml be kind, you'll ne - ver find 


^ 


/t\ 


1 r r p irr r^ 


That aught shall 


P 


al • ter me, Jen - ny ; For you 're the jnis - tress of 


^^ 


I 


t 


my mind. What -e'er you think of me, Jen - ny. 


First when your sweets enslaved my heart, 
You seem'd to favour me, Jenny; 

But now, alas I you act a part 
That speaks inconstancie, Jenny; 


* A song to which this name and tune are supposed to have ori- 
ginally belonged is inserted in Part II. 


158 SCOTISH SONGS, 

Inconstancie is sic a vice, 
It *s not befitting thee, Jenny ; 

It suits not with your virtue nice. 
To carry sae to me, Jenny. 


HER ANSWER. 

HAUD awa', haud awa', 
Haud awa' frae me, Donald; 

Your heart is made o'er large for ane, 
It is not meet for me, Donald : 

Some fickle mistress you may find, 
Will jilt as fast as thee, Donald ; 

To ilka swain she will prove kind, 
And nae less kind to thee, Donald. 

But I 've a heart that 's naething such. 
It *s fiird with honestie, Donald ; 

1 '11 ne'er love " many," I '11 love much, 

I hate all levitie, Donald. 
Therefore nae mair with art pretend 

Your heart is chain'd to mine, Donald ; 
For words of falsehood " ill" defend 

A roving love like thine, Donald. 

First when you courted, 1 must own, 
I fi-ankly favoured you, Donald ; 

Apparent worth and fair renown 
Made me believe you true, Donald : 


SCOTISH SONGS, 159 

Ilk virtue then seem'd to adorn 
The man esteem'd by me, Donald ; 

But now the mask 's faun ofif, I scorn 
To ware a thocht on thee, Donald. 

And now, for ever, haud awa', 

Haud awa' frae me, Donald ; 
Gae seek a heart that *s like your ain, 

And come nae mair to me, Donald : 
For I '11 reserve mysel' for ane, 

For ane that 's liker me, Donald j 
If sic a ane I canna find, 

I *11 ne'er lo'e man, nor thee, Donald. 


Donald. 

Then I *m thy man, and fause report 
Has only tauld a lie, Jenny; 

To try thy truth, and make us sport. 
The tale- was raised by me, Jenny. 


Jenny. 

When this ye prove, and still can love, 
Then come awa' to me, Donald ; 

I 'm well content ne'er to repent 
That I have smiled on thee, Donald. 


i6o 


SCOTISH SONGS, 


SONG XXIX. 


I XL NEVER LOVE THEE MORE. 


BY JAMES THE GREAT MARQUIS OF MONTROSE. 


I 


P 


^ 


^ 


ms^*^ 


^ 


My dear and on - ly love, I pray, "This lit - tie" 



world of thee. Be go-vem'd by no o - ther sway But 


§^ J' J Ji^:^iiciJ n jir r 


pu -rest mon • arch • ie : For if con - fu - sion have a 


* 


Eb 


fir c f J1J.J J 


§ 


part, Which vir - tu • ous souls ab • hor, "I'll call" a sy - nod 


i « t^ r c i -c-^J J1J.J I I 


in my heart, *'And" ne - ver love thee more. 

As Alexander I will reign, 

And I will reign alone, 
My thoughts " did" evermore disdain, 

A rival on my throne. 
He either fears his fate too much. 

Or his deserts are small, 
" Who dares not put" it to the touch, 

To « gain " or lose it all. 


SCOTISH SONGS. i6i 

But I must rule and govern still, 

And always give the law ; 
And have each "subject" at my will, 

And all to stand in awe : 
But 'gainst my batteries if I find 

Thou " storm or vex me " sore, 
As " if" thou set me " as " a blind, 

I '11 never love thee more. 

Or in the empire of thy heart. 

Where I should solely be. 
Another do pretend a part. 

And dare to vie with me ; 
Or if committees thou erect, 

And " go " on such a score, 
I '11, " smiling, mock " at thy neglect, 

And never love thee more. 

But if " no faithless action stain " 

Thy " love and constant " word, 
I '11 make thee " famous " by my pen, 

And " glorious " by my sword. 
I '11 serve thee in such noble ways, 

" As ne'er was known " before ; 
I '11 crown and deck thy head with bays. 

And love thee " more and " more. 


l62 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


SONG XXX. 


SLIGHTED LOVE SAIR TO BIDE* 


#' - 1 '1 


m 


Where art thou, Hope, that pro- raised me re - lief? 


AJJ .yJJ J ,1^=^ 


Come, hear my doom pro- noun -ced by dis - dain. Come, 


^P 


^^ 


-^ 


-^ 


CT ^ 


1 


trai - tor Hope, that all men doth mis -chief, Come here, 


j!» J .1 J .1 


St- 


^ 


-«- 


'1 r r " 


let see, and ease me of my pain. A -lace ! sweet Hope, 


^ 


^ 


^ 


IB 


■^ 


5 


t 



where is thy scope t Or where shalt thou re - main T Why flees thou 


^^ 


^ 


^^ 


I 


^^ 


Z2: 


me, to make me die? Wilt thou not come a - gain? Since Hope 


^ 


^ 


I 


^ « Q > — e^ 


m 


•^ 


35: 


t 


b gone, and can - not me re - mead, In bon - dage thus I 


P 


i^^ 


q ^ 


t 


m 


g o 


must bide For -tune's fead, I must bide For - tune's fead. 

♦ Written before 1666. The title was prefixed by Ramsay, who 
omitted the ist, 3d, 4th, 6th, and 8th stanzas. The music has been 
in parts, but the cantus or tenor appears to have been the only one 
ever published. The antiquity of this song was the chief induce- 
ment to its insertion. 


i 


SCOTISff SONGS, 1 6 3 

I had a heart, and now I heartless go : 
I had a mind that dayly was opprest : 
I had a friend that 's now become my fo : 
I had a will, yet I can get no rest. 

What have I now ? nothing I trow, 

But spite where I had joy : 

What am I then ? a heartless man : 

Should love me thus destroy] 
I love and serve one whom I do regard, 
Yet, for my love, disdain is my reward. 

If promised faith, and secret love intend, 

And choose but doubt, I thought I had done well. 

If fixed eye and inward heart do bind 

A man in love, as now my heart doth feel : 

What pain is love ? or what may move 

A man for to despair 1 

Nothing so great as hie despite 

Of his sweet lady fair : 
Such is my chance, as now I must confess ; 
I love a love, though she be merciless. 

What pain can pierce a heart that I do want, 
If love be pain that doth any subdue ? 
What pain can force a body to be faint? 
If love be pain, how can I pain eschew ? 

Since I am fast, knit to the mast. 

This torment to endure ; 

And have no might, by law nor right, 

My lady to procure : 
What shall I say, since will gain-stands the law 1 
I have a will, yet will makes me stand aw. 


1 64 SCOTISH SONGS. 

Where shall I go to hide my weary face ? 
Where shall I find a place for my defence 1 
Where is my love, who is the meetest place 
Of all the earth that is my confidence : 

She hath my hearty till I depart, 

Let her do what she list ; 

I cannot mend, but still depend, 

And dayly to insist 
To purchase love, if love my love deserve ; 
If not for love, let love my body sterve. 

Come here, ye gods, and judge my cause aright 
Hear my complaint before ye me condemn : 
Take you before my lady most of might : 
Let not the wolf devore the silly lamb. 

If she may say, by night or day. 

That ever I did her wrong ; 

My mind shall be, with cruelty. 

To ly in prison strong : 
Then shall ye save a sakeless man firom pain ; 
Try well my cause, and then remove disdain. 

O lady fair, whom I do honour most. 
Your name and fame within my breast I have : 
Let not my love and labour thus be lost ; 
But still in mind, I pmy you to ingraff. 
That I am true, and shall not rue 
A word that I have said : 
I am your man, do what ye can, 
When all these playes are pla/d. 
Then save your ship unbroken on the sand, 
Since man and goods are all at your command. 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


i6S 


Then choose to keep or loss that you have done : 
Yout friendly friehd doth make you this request : 
Let not friends come us lovers two between, 
Since late detests caused you me to detest. 
Keep hope in store, you to deplore, 
Conquer yoiu: friend indeed : 
Remember aye, will come the day, 
When friends a friend will need : 
You have a friend so friendly and so true, 
Keep well your friend : I say no more. Adieu. 


SONG XXXI. 


THE VAIN ADVICE.* 


Slaw. 


BY MRS COCKBURN. 


Set by Mr Shield. 


j|/<M i r-t^ fj" ^^ 



Ah ! gaze not on those eyes ! For - bear that soft in- 



chant - ing voice to hear : Not looks of ba - si - lisks give 


|»"J-jj^; , rr. i f'rmfff.fm 


sur • er death, Not Sy - rens sing 


with more de- 


* This song ought not to have been inserted, as the authoress, 
though of Scotch parentage, was bom in London. 


i66 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


if/ p J. J i l l p c r firj JJ i iT- 1 


struc-tive breath. Fly, if thy free - dom thou'dst main - tain ; A- 


if/f^ r r^j.^j ^jirrrfrrfi 


las! I feel th* ad -vice is vain: Aheart, whose safe - ty 


ii f>^'- j^ I J' p -'r 1 j^i fi^ p ^ j^iT^ ^ 


but in flight does lye, Is too far lost to have the pow*r 

/7\ 


4'/fj iJij' l JJ J3a 



to fly. Is too far lost to have thepoVrto fly. 


SONG XXXII. 


BY THOMAS BLACKLOCK, D.D. 


Tune—" The Braes o' Ballendine." 


p^riuff tfuuecr i fffr^ i 


a 


Be - neath a green shade a love • ly young 

ir 


sw'ain One eve-ning re - clined to dis -co - ver his 




pain ; ao sad, yet so sweet-ly, he 



war-bled his 


SCOTISH SONGS, 


167 



itf iejr i rjjjli^r,d 


woe, The winds ceased to breathe, and the foun-tains to 



flow : Rude winds with com • pas-sion could hear him com- 



plain. Yet Chlo-e, less gen-tle, was deaf to his strain. 


How happy, he cry'd, my moments once flew ! 
Ere Chloe's bright charms first flash'd in my view : 
These eyes then with pleasure the dawn could survey ; 
Nor smiled the fair morning more cheerful than they : 
Now scenes of distress please only my sight j 
I 'm tortured in pleasure, and languish in light 

Through changes in vain relief I pursue ; 
All, all but conspire my griefs to renew : 
From sunshine to zephyrs and shades we repair ; 
To sunshine we fly from too piercing an air : 
But love's ardent fever bums always the same ; 
No winter can cool it, no summer inflame. 


But see ! the pale moon all clouded retires ; 

The breezes grow cool, not Strephon's desires : 

I fly from the dangers of tempest and wind, 

Yet nourish the madness that preys on my mind. 

Ah wretch ! how can life thus merit thy care, 

Since lengthening its moments, but lengthens despair ] 


i68 


SCOTISff SONGS. 


SONG XXXIII. 


BY WILLIAM HAMILTON OF BANGOUR. 


Tune—** Galashiels.' 


fMj I rtfF f-^CIfjJiJ.JlJ J' 


Ah ! the [poor] shep - herd's moum-ful fate, When doomed to 


^';:^ r. i 'r'r f r^i-c ^^; ^ 


love and doom'd to lan-guish, To bear the scorn - ful 


|*J3fiJ^^ , ! l j,r ^^ 


fair one's hate, Nor dare dis - close lus an - guish. Yet 


^m 


^ 



^ 


^ 


ea - ger looks and dy - ing sighs My se • cret soul dis- 



co -ver; While rap - ture trembling thro' mine eyes Reveals how 


^*^CnMf i c-^trj|r ^^ 


much I love her. The ten • der glance, the red'- ning cheek, O'er- 



spread with ris - ing blush - es, A thou - sand va - rious 


^ » ^.f fl.J | r-f^r ^^ 


ways they speak, A thou - sand va - rious wish - es. . 


SCOTJSH SONGS. 

For, oh ! that form so heavenly fair, 

Those languid eyes so sweetly smiling, 
That artless blush, and modest air. 

So fatally beguilihg j 
Thy every look, and every grace. 

So charm whene'er I view thee, 
Till death overtake me in the chace, 

Still will my hopes pursue thee. 
Then when my tedious hours are past, 

Be this last blessing given. 
Low at thy feet to breathe my last. 

And die in sight of heaven. 


169 


SONG XXXIV. 


UNGRATEFUL NANNY. 


BV CHARLES LORD BINNING.* 


Did e - ver swain a nymph a - dore. As I un- 


^ 


r J I /■ J' j' i ,j J' l i m 


grate - ful Nan • ny do ? Was e • ver shep-herd's heart so 


* Son to the late, and father to the present, Earl of Haddington. 
He died at Naples 1732-3, "universally lamented." 


170 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


•iL tr 



sore ? Was e • ver bro - ken heart so true ? My cheeks are 



swell'd with tears, but she Has ne-ver shed a tear for me. 


If Nanny calFd, did Robin stay, 
Or linger when she bid me run % 

She only had the word to say, 

And all she ask'd was quickly done. 

I always thought on her, but she 

Would ne'er bestow a thought on me. 

To let her cows my clover taste 
Have I not rose by break of day ? 

When did her heifers ever fast, 
If Robin in his yard had hay ? 

Though to my fields they welcome were, 

I never welcome was to her. 

If Nanny ever lost a sheep, 

I cheerfully did give her two : 
Did not her lambs in safety sleep 

Within my folds in frost and snow 1 
Have they not there from cold been free 1 
But Nanny still is cold to me. 

Whene'er I climb'd our orchard trees, 
The ripest fruit was kept for Nan ; 

Oh how those hands that drown'd her bees 
Were stung ! I '11 ne'er forget the pain : 


SCOTJSH SONGS. 1 7 1 

Sweet were the combs as sweet could be, 
But Nanny ne'er look'd sweet on me. 

If Nanny to the well did come, 

Twas I that did her pitchers fill j 
Full as they were I brought them home, 

Her com I carried to the mill : 
My back did bear her sacks, but she 
Would never bear the sight of me. 

To Nanny's poultry oats I gave, 
I 'm sure they always had the best : 

Within this week her pigeons have 
Eat up a peck of peas at least : 

Her little pigeons kiss, but she 

Would never take a kiss from me : 

Must Robin always Nanny woo ! 

And Nanny still on Robin frown? 
Alas ! poor wretch ! what shall I do, 

If Nanny does not love me soon ? 
If no relief to me she *11 bring, 
I '11 hang me in her apron-string. 


1 7 2 SCOTISH SONGS. 

SONG XXXV. 

BY WILLIAM HAMILTON OF BANGOUR. 
Tune— "The Yellow-hairM Laddie."* 

Ye shepherds and nymphs that adorn the gay plain, 
Approach from your sports, and attend to my strain ; 
Amongst all your number a lover so true 
Was ne'er so undone, with such bliss in his view. 

Was ever a nymph so hard-hearted as mine ? 
She knows me sincere, and she sees how I pine ; 
She does not disdain me, nor frown in her wrath. 
But calmly and mildly resigns me to death. 

She calls me her friend, but her lover denies : 
She smiles when I 'm cheerful, but hears not my 

sighs. 
A bosom so flinty, so gentle an air, 
Inspires me with hope, and yet bids me despair ! 

I fall at her feet, and implore her with tears : 
Her answer confounds, while her manner endears ; 
When softly she tells me to hope no relief. 
My trembling lips bless her in spite of my grief. 

By night, while I slumber, still haunted with care, 
I start up in anguish, and sigh for the fair : 
The fair sleeps in peace, may she ever do so ! 
And only when dreaming imagine my wo. 

* Ramsay. See before, p. 125. 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


173 


Then gaze at a distance, nor farther aspire ; 
Nor think she should love whom she cannot admire : 
Hush all thy complaining, and dying her slave, 
Commend her to heaven, and thyself to the grave. 


SONG XXXVI.* 

BY TOBIAS SMOLLETT, M.D. 


ft Jirr r^f i rr ^ J^JU'^' 



i f. r^nC f f jT^ 


fore thine al • tar, I^ove ! I feel thy soft, re- 



iJijiJ . J' r '^r I f r f J ^ 


sist • less flame Glide swift thro' all my vl - tal frame. 


For while I gaze, my bosom glows. 
My blood in tides impetuous flows, 
Hope, fear, and joy alternate roll. 
And floods of transports 'whelm my soul ! 

My falt'ring tongue attempts in vain 
In soothing murmurs to complain, 
My tongue some secret magic ties. 
My murmurs sink in broken sighs ! 


* In imitation of a much-admired ode of Sappho's. See Philip's 
translation. English Songs, 1. 188. 


174 


SCOTISH SONGS. 

Condemn'd to nurse eternal care, 
And ever drop the silent tear, 
Unheard I mourn, unknown I sigh, 
Unfriended live, unpitied die ! 


SONG XXXVII. 

BY THE REV. ALEXANDER WEBSTER, D.D. 

Tune—" Alloa House." * 



The spring-time re - turns, and clothes the green 



plains, And Al • lo • a shines more cheer - ful and 



gay ; The lark tunes his throat, and the neigh • hour- 


!' j^ l j a i j r r l J.J'JJ I J j; 


ing swains Sing mer • ri - ly round me wher - e - ver 


if.Vj | j i ir;if/Cf:;nfir i fjji 

^ stray: But San - dy nae mair re - turns to 



my view ; Nae spring - time me cheers, nae mu • sic can 
* Composed by Mr Oswald. 


SCOTISH SOJVGS. 


175 



dieu ! A - dieu ev* - ry plea • sure this bo - som can warm. 


O Alloa house ! how much art thou changed ! 

How silent, how dull to me is each grove ! 
Alane I here wander where ance we both ranged, 

Alas ! where to please me my Sandy ance strove ! 
Here, Sandy, I heard the tales thiat you tauld, 

Here listened too fond whenever you sang ; 
Am I grown less fair then, that you are tum'd cauldl 

Or foolish, believed a false, flattering tongue ! 

So spoke the fair maid, when sorrow's keen pain. 

And shame, her last falt'ring accents suppressM ; 
For fate, at that moment, brought back her dear 
swain, 

Who heard, and with rapture, his Nelly address*d : 
My Nelly ! my fair, I come ; O my love ! 

Nae pow'r shall thee tear again from my arms. 
And Nelly ! nae mair thy fond shepherd reprove, 

Who knows thy fair worth, and adores a' thy 
charms. 


She heard ; and new joy shot through her saft frame, 
And will you, my love ! be true 1 she replied : 

And live I to meet my fond shepherd the same ? 
Or dream I that Sandy will make me his bride ? 


176 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


O Nelly 1 I live to find thee still kind ; 

Still true to thy swain, and lovely as true ; 
Then, adieu to a' sorrow ; what soul is so blind, 

As not to live happy for ever with you ? 


SONG XXXVIII. 


BY ALLAN RAMSAY. 


Tune — " The Bonnie Lass of Branksome." 


^*^g | rfffMtffrf Jj i r f Cf rh 


As I cam' in by Te • viot side, And by the braes o' 


ji r C i r rr r d^ f^ fj ^J i 


Branksome, There first I saw my bon • nie bride, Young 


V in rr 


t 


rcrriffcf 


smil - ing, sweet, and hand-some ; Her skin was salt • er than the 


§ vnrin^ 



down, And white as a - la - bas • ter ; Her hair a shin • ing 


il rr f/ r ifiJ r r^ n\i r'n 


wav • y brown ; In straightness none sur - pass'd her. 

Life glowed upon her lip and cheek, 
Her clear een were surprising, 

And beautifully tum'd her neck, 
Her little breasts just rising 


SCOTISH SONGS. 1 7 7 

Nae silken hose with gushets fine, 

Or shoon wi' glancing laces, 
On her bare leg, forbade to shine 

Weel-shapen native graces. 

Ae little coat, and bodice white. 

Was sum o' a' her claithing j 
Even these o'er mickle 5 — mair delyte 

She 'd given cled wi' naething. 
She lean'd upon a flowery brae, 

By which a bumie trotted ; 
On her I glowei'd my saul away. 

While on her sweets I doated. 

A thousand beauties of desert 

Before had scarce alarm'd me. 
Till this dear artless struck my heart. 

And, bot designing, charm'd me. 
Hurried by love, close to my breast 

I clasp*d this fund of blisses ; 
Wha smiled, and said. Without a priest, 

Sir, hope for nocht but kisses. 

I had nae heart to do her harm. 

And yet I couldna want her; 
What she demanded, ilka charm 

O' hers pled, I should grant her. 
Since Heaven had dealt to me a routh, 

Straight to the kirk I led her ; 
There " plighted " her my faith and troth, 

And a young lady made her. 

M 


178 


SCOTJSH SONGS. 


SONG XXXIX. 


THE SILKEN SNOODED LASSIE. 


Tune—" Gala Water." 


rfi'in'j n J J^N"^ ■''i.QV 


Com • ing through the broom at e'ea. And com - ing 

flr 


ih jjJirrrf J'-jiU-J'fnCf fj 


i 


% 


through the broom sae drear^y. The las -sie lost her silk • en 
/7\ . «r 


i Hi rj I ' 


tt^ 


S 


snood, Which cost her mo « ay a blurt and blear e'e. 


Fair her hair, and brent her brow. 
And bonnie blue h^r een when near ye ; 

The mair I prie'd her bonnie mou, 
The mair I wish'd her for my dearie. 

The broom was lang, the lassie gay, 
And oh but I was unco cheerie ; 

The snood was tint, a well a day ! 
For mirth was tum*d to blurt and blear-e*e. 

I press'd her hand, she sigh'd, I woo'd. 
And speir'd. What gars ye sob, my dearie % 

Quoth she, I Ve lost my silken snood. 
And never mair can look sae cheerie. 


i 


SCOTISH SONGS. 1 7 9 

I said, Ne'er mind the silken snood, 
Nae langer mourn, nor look sae dreary ; 

i '11 buy you ane that 's twice as good, 
If you '11 consent to be my dearie. 

Quoth she. If you will aye be mine, 

Nae mair the snood shall make me dreary : 

I vow'd, I seal'd, and bless the time. 
That in the broom I met my dearie. 


SONG XL. 

HERE AW A', THERE AW A*. 


Plamiive. 


i>a r'^'O i J.J'.^ ^ 


+--. 


Here a • wa', there a - wa*, here a • wa', Wil - lie. 


^' r'J' J3IJ.J' 


t 


m 


Here a - waS there a - wa', haud a .- wa' hame; 


P 


£ 


irp c tN^J"rl 


Lang have I sought thee, dear have I bought thee, 


f J r t- 


t 


^ 


t3 


i 


Now I have got - ten my Wil - lie a - gain. 

Thro' the lang muir I have foUow'd my Willie, 
Thro' the lang muir I have foUow'd him hame ; 
Whatever betide us, nought shall divide us, 
Love now rewards all my sorrow and pain. 


i8o 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


Here awa*, there awa', here awa', Willie, 
Here awa', there awa', haud awa', hame ; 
Come, love, believe me, nothing can grieve me, 
Ilka thing pleases while Willie's at hame. 


SONG XLL 


THE MARINER'S WIFE. 


BY JEAN ADAMS, CRAWFORD's-DYKE, GREENOCK. 



I 


But are ye sure the news is true? And are ye sure he's 


i^U-. J' j'l ;■ ;^Ms ^ 


weel? Is this a time to think o' wark ? Ye jauds, fling by your 


I 


h 


^^ 


^ 



Z=Z 


wheel There 'snae luck a - bout the house* There 'snae luck at a'. 


j!^ HJ' l J."j. | J.M J'lJ'lJyJjJI 


There 's nae luck a • bout the house Whan our gude-man 's a - wa' ! 

Is this a time to think o' wark, 

When Colin 's at the door? 
Rax me my cloak, I *11 doun the quay. 

And see him come ashore. 

There 's nae luck, &c. 


J 


SCOTISH SONGS. i8i 

Rise up, and mak a clean fireside, 

Put on the muckle pat ; 
Gie little Kate her cotton goun, 

And Jock his Sunday's coat. 
There 's nae luck, &c. 


And mak their shoon as black as slaes, 
Their stockings white as snaw ; 

It 's a* to pleasure our gudeman, 
He likes to see them braw. 
There 's nae luck, &c. 

There are twa hens into the crib 
Hae fed this month and mair, 

Mak haste, and thraw their necks about, 
That Colin weel may fare. 

There 's nae luck, &c. 

Bring down to me my bigonet, 

My bishop satin goun, 
And then gae tell the bailie's wife 

That Colin 's come to toun. 
There *s nae luck, &c. 

My Turkey slippers I '11 put on, 

My stockings pearl blue. 
And a' to pleasure our gudeman, 

For he 's baith leel and true. 
There 's nae luck, &c. 


i82 SCOTISff SONGS. 

Sae sweet his voice, sae smooth his tongue, 

His breath *s like caller air, 
His very tread has music in *t, 

As he comes up the stair, 

There 's nae luck, &c. 

And will I see his face again ? 

And will I hear him speak ? 
I 'm dounright dizzy with the joy, 

In troth I *m like to greet ! 
There 's nae luck, &c. 


SONG XLII. 


MY WIFE *S TA'EN THE GEE. 


^"^Tjr^ j^ }iS'.M-^''^' ^ 


A freen' o* mine cam here yestreen, And he would hae me doun 


^■l'' | J^J'J^Jt!j^^J^;^J^^g^ t'i 


To drink a pot of ale -wV him. In the neist bur-row's toun. 


^j' l r M' f ■^-1' i'-"K f'^- i'n 


But oh, in - deed, it was, sir, Sae far the waur for me ; 


i,>j9i/n' , >ij.^j'j' i J-Ui' I 


For lang or e'er that I camhameMywifehadta'en the gee. 


SCOTISH SONGS. 183 

We sat sae late, and drank sae stout, 

The truth I tell to you, 
That lang or e'er midni^t came, 

We were a* roaring fou. 
My wife sits at the fireside, 

And the tear blinds aye her ee ; 
The ne'er a bed will she gae to, 

But sit and tak the gee. 

In the morning sooi^ when I cam down, 

The ne'er a word she spake ; 
But mony a sad and sour look, 

And aye her head she 'd shake. 
My dear, quoth I, what aileth thee, 

To look sae sour on me ? 
1 11 never do the like again. 

If you 11 ne'er tak the gee. 

When that she heard, she ran, she flang 

Her arms about my neck ; 
And twenty kisses in a crack. 

And, poor wee thing, she grat. 
If you'll ne'er do the like again. 

But bide at hame wi' me, 
I '11 lay my life I 'se be the wife 

That 's never tak the gee. 


1 84 


SCOTISH SONGS, 


SONG XLIIL 


THE HAPPY CLOWN. 


* 


li J J J J' J1 /■ 





How hap - py is the ni - ral clown, Who, far re-moved from 


f r r J^ j' l J ^^ J' l f f r " I 


noise of town, Con-temnsthe glo - ry of a crown, And 



!' Cft. Lf ir- 1 r fTtf I r J [! c; c i 


in his safe re - treat Is pleas - ed with his 


§ 11 c r cir^ r ii d:/ '^V M 


low de-gree. Is rich in de - cent po - ver - ty. From 


rrrriiii ,1jijjii 



strife,fromcare,andbus'-nessfree, At once both good and great! 


No drums disturb his morning sleep, 
He fears no danger of the deep, 
Nor noisy law, nor courts ne'er heap 

Vexation in his mind : 
No trumpets rouse him to the war, 
No hopes can bribe, no threats can dare ; 
From state intrigues he holds afar. 

And liveth unconfined. 


^i^fe^.a^^taMihMtfB 


J 


SCOTISH SONGS. 

Like those in golden ages born, 
He labours gently to adorn 
His small paternal fields of com, 

And on their products feeds : 
Each season of the wheeling year, 
Industrious he improves with care ; 
And still some ripen'd fiiiits appear, 

So well his toil succeeds. 

Now by the silver stream he lies. 
And angles with his baits and flies. 
And next the sylvan scene he tries. 

His spirit to regale : 
Now from the rock or height he views 
His fleecy flock, or teeming cows, 
Then tunes his reed, or tries his muse, 

That waits his honest call. 

Amidst his harmless easy joys. 

No care his peace of mind destroys. 

Nor does he pass his time in toys 

Beneath his just regard : 
He 's fond to feel the zephyr's breeze, 
To plant and sned his tender trees ; 
And for attending well his bees, 

Enjoys the sweet reward. 


185 


The flowery meads, and silent coves. 
The scenes of faithful rural loves. 
And warbUng birds, on blooming groves. 
Afford a wish'd delight : 


1 86 


SCOTISH SONGS. 

But, oh ! how pleasant is this life ! 
Blest with a chaste and virtuous wife, 
And children prattling, void of strife. 
Around his fire at night I 


SONG XLIV. 


TWINE WEEL THE PLAIDEN. 


jC't js I J' -'v j' ?irth-i \ ^- ^'^ 


Oh, I hae lost my silk - en snood, That tied my hair 


I 


p ^i^ ^ ^\S'r^i n '}\i'r^:-i^ 


sae yel-Iow ; I 've gi'en my heart to the lad I lo'ed, He 


ft J-. J' ^ jv J j^ i^ i f re, Ej-teT 


was a gal - lant fel-low. And twine it weel, my bonnie 


« 


fijy i c, r c, 6f ' H V I f tf 'c 


doo, And twine it weel the plaid - en ; The las - sie lost 

/7N I! ite. BW fir 



her silk - en snood In pu - in' 


the breck • an. 


He praised my een sae bonnie blue, 
Sae lily white my skin O, 

And S3me he prie'd my bonnie mou, 
And swore it was nae sin O. 
And twine it weel, &c. 


SCOTISH SONGS. 187 

But he has left the lass he lo'ed, 

His own true love forsaken ; 
Which gars me sair to greet the snood, 

I lost among the breckan. 

And twine it weel, &c. 


SONG XLV. 

I XL CHEER UP MY HEART. 

As I was a walking ae May morning, 

The fiddlers an' youngsters were making their game ; 
And there I saw my faithless lover, 

And a' my sorrows retum'd again. 
Well, since he is gane, joy gae wi' him ; 

It 's ne'er be he shall gar me complain : 
I '11 cheer up my heart, and I will get anither ; 

I '11 never lay a' my love upon ane. 

I couldna get sleeping yestreen for weeping. 

The tears ran down like showers o' rain ; 
An* hadna I got greeting my heart wad a broken -, 

And oh ! but love 's a tormenting pain. 
But since he is gane, may joy gae wi' him ; 

It 's never be he that shall gar me complain : 
I '11 cheer up my heart, and I will get anither ; 

I '11 never lay a' my love upon ane. 


1 88 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


When I gaed into my mother's new house, 

I took my wheel and sat down to spin ; 
'Twas there I first began my thrift ; 

And a' the wooers came linking in. 
It was gear he was seeking, but gear he '11 no get ; 

And it 's never be he that shall gar me complain : 
For I '11 cheer up my heart, and I '11 soon get anither j 

I '11 never lay a' my love upon ane. 


SONG XLVL 


MY HEART'S MY AIN. 


Tune—" We 'U Kick the World before us." 


y'iN' i f f c ^-f f ^^ J i f Cf ^' 


It 's no ver - y lang sin - syne, That I had a lad 


p p c r J1 c c c 't c [. J- [■ c I 


o' my ain ; But now he 's a - wa* to an • i • ther. And 


l^n.1 , j' J I I J- 1 J' J' I J' ||j' J. 


left me a' my lane. The lass he is court -ing has 


P j> J' J' I J J' 


TTtTj 



sil - ler, An' I hae nane at a'; It's nought but the 



love o' the toch-er That's ta'en my lad - die a - wa'. 


^ 

^ 


SCOTISH SONGS. 189 

But I 'm bl3rthe that my heart 's my ain, 

And I '11 keep it a' my life, 
Until that I meet wi' a lad 

Wha has sense to wale a gude wife : 
For though I say 't myseP, 

That should no say 't, it 's true, 
The lad that gets me for a wife, 

He '11 ne'er hae occasion to rue. 

I gang aye fu' clean and fu* tosh, 

As a' the neighbours can tell ; 
Though I Ve seldom a goun on my back, 

But sic as I spin myseP : 
And when I 'm clad in my curtsey, 

I think myseP as braw 
As Susie, wi' a' her pearlin', 

That 's tane my lad awa'. 

But I wish they were buckled together. 

And may they live happy for life ; 
Though Willie does slight me, and 's left me, 

The chiel he deserves a gude wife. 
But, oh ! I 'm blythe that I Ve miss'd him, 

As blythe as I weel can be ; 
For ane that 's sae keen o' the siller 

Will ne'er agree wi' me. 

But as the truth is, I 'm hearty, 

I hate to be scrimpit and scant ; 
The wee thing I hae I '11 mak use o 't, 

And no ane about me shall want : 


1 90 


SCOTISH SONGS, 

For I *m a gude guide o' the warld, 
I ken when to haud and to gie \ 

For whinging and cringing for siller 
Will ne'er agree wi' me. 

Contentment is better than riches. 

An' he wha has that, has enough ; 
The master is seldom sae happy 

As Robin that drives the plough. 
But if a young lad wou'd cast up, 

To make me his partner for life ; 
If the chiel has the sense to be happy, 

He '11 fa' on his feet for a wife. 


SONG XLVIL 

THE BUSH ABOON TRAQUAIR. 


Slew. 


i 


BY ROBERT CRAWFORD. 


J r'^iEr ^ ^ 


E 


^ 


^ 


Hear me, ye nymphs, and ev* 


ry swain, I'll 


p J J fif n,i-i f^ i j J r'f ii 


tell how Peg - gy grieves me ; Though thus I Ian - guish. 



^■U JM ji i r I 


thus com - plain, A - las I she ne'er be • lieves me. My 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


191 


f :n ;■ J^ f, I rr tf r'^y r^ 


vows and sighs, like si - lent air, Un - heed - ed 


f ^c i cfWrf^iJ.':^j':?^f, i 


ne - vcr move 


her ; At the bon • nie bush a- 


I'nJ 5i£f r-j. 


^^ 


? 


boon Tra - quair, 'Twas there I first did love her. 

That day she smiled, and made me glad, 

No maid seem'd ever kinder ; 
I thought myself the luckiest lad, 

So sweetly there to find her : 
I tried to sooth my am'rous flame, 

In words that I thought tender ; 
If more there pass'd, I 'm not to blame, 

I meant not to ofiend her. 

Yet now she scornful flees the plain, 

The fields we then firequented ; 
If e'er we meet she shows disdain, 

She looks as ne'er acquainted. 
The bonnie bush bloom'd fau: in May, 

Its sweets I '11 aye remember ; 
But now her frowns make it decay, 

It fades as in December. 

Ye rural powers, who hear my strains, 
Why thus should Peggy grieve me ? 

Oh ! make her partner in my pains. 
Then let her smiles relieve me : 


J92 


SCOTISff SONGS. 

If not, my love will turn despair, 
My passion no more tender, 

I '11 leave the bush aboon Traquair, 
To lonely wilds I *11 wander. 


SONG XLVIII. 


BY DR AUSTIN/ 


jf^^ij^iip i\itS[ ^'J'l 


n 


For the lack of gold she's left me, O, And 


yrj r rfJ J'lr f'f r^J' i tff t r^ 


y 


all that's dear be>reft me, O ; She me for - sook for 


fl'fr j^'r^'ci i .jj.J^;'iJ^Ji i 


a great dtike, And to end • less woes she 's left me, O. 



^i i) j: i I f f f / i ^ 


'&W P 


A star and gar • ter have more art Than youth, a 


^rfjf/ lr rf f r r i tff; cLfd 


true and faith - ful heart ; For emp - ty ' ti - ties 



gut-t'ring show she's left me, O. 


we must part. And for gl 

* On the marriage of his mistress, Jean, daughter of John Drum- 
mond, Esq. of Megginch, to James Duke of Atholl, in 17 — , This 
lady, having survived her husband, and married, secondly, Lord 
Adam Gordon, is still living. The tune is said to be old. 


— — - ^- 


r— - - -^- vr 


SCOTISff SONGS. 

No cruel fair shall e'er more move 
My injured heart again to love ; 
Through distant climates I must rove, 

Since Jeanie she has left me, O. 
Ye powers above, I to your care 
Give up my charming lovely fair ; 
Your choicest blessings be her share, 

Though she *s for ever left me, O. 


193 


SONG XLIX. 


WAYWARD WIFE. 


BY JANET GRAHAM. 


^>ii ^ f I JJ J' J j% f. [J J ' I Jj J 


las I my son, you lit - tie know The sor . rows 


^ I j-|jr f r | j;r[-f. I. h | . pjp 


that from wed-Iock flow. Fare - well to e - ve • ry day of ease 

3 


^,> :\ j;j J- J' J' i\ j^ 



When you have got - ten a wife to please. Sae bide you yet, and 


iu ^ r JU'J'ff'^^iJf rriJf 


bide you yet. Ye Ut-tle ken what's to be - tide you yet : The half of 


|£g%^r ^ i'nn \ mj r ni 


that wUI gane you yet, If a way-ward wife ob - tain you yet. 

N 


194 SCOTISH SONGS. 

[Your experience is but small, 
As yet you Ve met with little thrall :] 
The black cow on your foot ne'er trod,* 
Which gars you sing alang the road. * 
Sae bide you yet, &c. 

Sometimes the rock, sometimes the reel, 
Or some piece of the spinning-wheel, 
She will drive at you wi' good will, 
And then she 11 send you to the de'il. 
Sae bide you yet, &c. 

When I like you was young and free, 
I valued not the proudest she ; 
Like you I vainly boasted then, 
That men alone were bom to reign. 
But bide you yet, &c. 

Great Hercules and Samson too, 
Were stronger men than I or you, 
Yet they were baffled by their dears, 
And felt the distaff and the shears. 
Sae bide you yet, &c. 

* This is an ancient proverbial expression. It is used by Sir John 
Harrington in his translation of ** Orlando Furioso," (b. vi. s. 72,) 
where, speaking of some very young damsels, he says, 
" The blacke oxe has not yet trod on their toe/' 
Again, in Heywoode's ** Epigrammes upon Proverbes," 
" The blacke oxe neuer trode on thy foote.'* 

Query, however, the authenticity of this and the following 
stanza. The two lines between brackets are wanting in some 
copies. 


SCOTISH SONGS, 

Stout gates of brass, and well-built walls, 
Are proof 'gainst swords and cannon-balls, 
But nought is found by sea or land, 
That can a wayward wife withstand. 
Sae bide you yet, &c. 


195 


SONG L. 
GOOD MORROW, FAIR MISTRESS. 



LjJc • M j Jij^ I i 


Good mor - row, fair mis-tress, the be - gin - ner of strife, 


m 


ll j j; j'.flJ iitf^^ 


I took ye frae the beg-ging, and made ye my wife: 



It was your fair out - side that first took my ee, 


i 


6: 


rt J^i^ ^ ri^- ;jrj 


But this is the last time my face ye sail see. 


Fye on ye, ill woman, the bringer o' shame. 
The abuser o' love, the disgrace o' my name ; 
The betrayer o' him that so trusted in thee : 
But this is the last time my face ye sail see. 


196 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


To the ground shall be razed these halls and these 

bowers, 
Defiled by your lusts and your wanton amours : 
I '11 find out a lady of higher degree ; 
And this is the last time my face ye sail see. 


SONG LI. 


BY AH.AN RAMSAY. 


Tune — " Lochaber no more." 


Slow. 


Fare - well to iioch - a - ber, and fare-irell to my Jean, 


;f,>J]|Jj;j1ljJ.J] | JJiJ'JilJ'J^ I 


Where heartsome with 


her I' 


ve mo - ny a day been: ForLoch* 


i>j J ^m!i \ r J jJ^uj n \ 


ber no more, Loch - a - ber no more} We'll 


j !> j:3 fl n I J f j. JJ i J JiJii.i i ij 


may - be re - turn to Loch - a ber no more. These 


^f j.^ f f I rr r j ^m 


s 


tears that I shed they are a' for my dear, And 


SCOTISH SONGS, 


197 


f j:^r f i fr ^ J^u r^ i ^ r i 


no for the dan - ger at - tend - ing on weir ; Tho' 

til 


i^TT uft r rJiN jJ3iJjj3j 


borne on rough seas to a far blood - y shore, May* 


|> J il ri i j.r ^:ir33=j5 


be to 


re - turn to Loch - a ber no more. 


Though hurricanes rise, though rise ev'ry wind, 
They 11 ne'er make a tempest like that in my mind ; 
Though loudest of thunder on loudest waves roar, 
That 's naething like leaving my love on the shore. 
To leave thee behind me, my heart is sair pain'd ; 
By ease that 's inglorious no fame can be gain'd ; 
And beauty and love *s the reward of the brav^, 
And I maun deserve it before I can crave. 


Then glory, my Jeanie, maun plead my excuse ; 
Since honour commands me, how can I refuse ? 
Without it I ne'er can have merit for thee. 
And without thy favour I 'd better not be. 
I gae then, my lass, to win honour and fame ; 
And if I should luck to come gloriously hame, 
I 'U bring a heart to thee with love running o'er, 
And tlten I '11 leave thee and Lochaber no more. 


198 


SCOTISff SONGS. 


SONG LII. 


BY SIR GILBERT ELLIOT. 


Tune — ** My apron, dearie." * 


Plaintive. 


AjjiJ^p f i J ^ ^ 


My sheep I ne - gleet - ed, I lost my sheep -hook, 


#L ^ : r :;IM ^ « J '^ f / 1 ' j i 


And all the gay haunts of my youth I for - sook : No 



1^1 



I 


more for A - myn - ta fresh gar-lands I wove, For am< 

tr 


f'Jjj J?JIJ I! 


njYHU\ 


bi - tion, 


said, would soon cure me of love. Oh 


^^ 


'r i ^ J^ c i rn rr i 


i 


what had my youth with am - bi - tion to do? Why 




S5^ 


r^^/ i TT | 


left I A - myn - ta? why broke I my vow? Oh 


p^p 


i-^li\^ Ol 


I 


give me my sheep, and my sheep-hook re - store ; I '11 


P ^j TJlJ C'Mr ^^ 


wan - der from love and A - myn - ta no more. 

* The original words are preserved in the ** Orpheus Caledonius," 
and, with some variation, in the collections of 1769 and 1776. 


SCOTISff SONGS. 


199 


Through regions remote in vain do I rove, 
And bid the wide ocean secure me from love ! 
O fool ! to imagine that aught can subdue 
A love so well-founded, a passion so true. 
Oh what had my youth, &c. 

Alas ! 'tis too late at thy fate to repine ; 
Poor shepherd, Amynta no more can be thine : 
Thy tears are all fruitless, thy wishes are vain, 
The moments neglected return not again. 

Oh what had my youth with ambition to do 1 

Why left I Amynta ? why broke I my vow ? 

Oh give me my sheep, and my sheephook 
restore, 

I '11 wander from love and Amynta no more. 


SONG LIII. 


THE HAPPY LOVER'S REFLECTIONS. 


BY ALLAN RAMSAY. 


Tune—" Alas that I cam o'er the moor." 


i |-iir i Jflf'^ i 'rrrrr i r'fff JJj 

The last time I came o'er the moor, I left my love be- 


i*n f :: 



hind me ; Ye powers ! what pains do I en - dure, When 


200 


SCOTJSH SONGS, 



soft i - de - as mind me I Soon at the nid - dy 



rfJ'JrJircn F i rrrf i 


morn display'd The beaming day en - su - ing, I met be- 


liH q- i Cr CJ ^ ^r ^ I'J rif [M J J I I 


times my love - ly maid In fit re • treats for woo - ing. 

Beneath the cooling shade we lay, 

Gazing and chastely sporting ; 
We kissed and promised time away, 

Till night spread her black curtain. 
I pitied all beneath the skies, 

Ev'n kings, when she was nigh me ; 
In raptures I beheld her eyes, 

Which could but ill deny me. 

Should I be calFd where cannons roar. 

Where mortal steel may wound me, 
Or cast upon some foreign shore. 

Where dangers may surround me. 
Yet hopes again to see my love. 

To feast on glowing kisses, 
Shall make my cares at distance move. 

In prospect of such blisses. 

In all my soul there 's not one place 

To let a rival enter : 
Since she excels in ev'ry grace. 

In her my love shall centre. 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


20 1 


Sooner the seas shall cease to flow, 
Their waves the Alps shall cover, 

On Greenland ice shall roses grow, 
Before I cease to love her. 

The next time I gang o'er the moor 

She shall a lover find me j 
And that my faith is firm and pure, 

Though I left her behind me : 
Then H)anen's sacred bonds shall chain 

My heart to her fair bosom ; 
There, while my being does remain, 

My love more fresh shall blossom. 


SONG LIV. 


BY DAVID MALLET/ 


■fi>" i ra , i i JJ'7Tr^;j|;jif i r c r 1 


Ye woods and ye moun - tains un - known, Be-neath whose pale 


JAJ.j'jiij \^M J'J i f'c rn 


sha - dows I stray, To tlie breast of my charm - er a - lone 


p^ \ \[\^'^m 



These sighs bid sweet e • cho con - vey, Wher - e - ver he 
*-In " Alfred," a masque. 


203 


SCOTISff SONGS. 


f' i ,;.j Jirr i V'r i ^ J'JirH 


pen - sive • ly leans, By foun-tain, on hill, or in 


^ h fi J^ J i ^ \ h Ji ti 


grove, His heart will ex • plain what she means. 


f'li 'rlJ J' Jl^ J; J l .i 


Who sings both from 


sor 


row and love. 


More soft than the nightingale's song, 

Oh waft the sad sound to his ear ; 
And say, though divided so long,' 

The friend of his bosom is near. 
Then tell him what years of delight, 

Then tell him what ages of pain, 
I felt while I lived in his sight ! 

I feel till I see him again ! 


SONG LV. 


THE BROOM OF COWDENKNOWES. 


Slow. 


|'ii.j|j.j|.r | [3jijj^^ 


How blythe ilk mom was I to see My swain come o'er 


#^U-Tfi;3 5f 


the bill! He skipp'd the bum, and flew to me; I 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


203 


yj.J' cf ;jiJ | j .j'J.JlJ'j' ;.j^ 


met him wi' good will. Oh the broom, the bon - nie bon - nie 


f'jCj i f f rcM'h- ^ 


■k 


broom> The broom of the Cow - den-knowes ; I wish I 
fir 


a4f^4t: 


^ 


were wi' my dear swain, Wi* his pipe and my ewes, 

I neither wanted ewe nor lamb, 

While his flocks near me lay ; 
He gathered in my sheep at night, 

And cheer d me a' the day. 
Oh the broom, &c. 

He tuned his pipe and reed sae sweet, 

The birds stood list'ning by; 
E'en the dull cattle stood and gazed, 

Charm'd wi' his melody. 
Oh the broom, &c. 

While thus we spent our time by turns. 

Betwixt our flocks and play, 
I envy'd not the fairest dame, 

Though e*er sae rich and gay. 
Oh the broom, &c. 

Hard fate ! that I should banished be. 

Gang heavily and mourn, 
Because I loved the kindest swain 

That ever yet was born. 
Oh the broom, &c. 


204 SCOTISH SONGS. 

He did oblige roe every hour, 

Could I but faithfu' be ? 
He staw my heart : could I refuse 

Whatever he ask'd o' me ? 
Oh the broom, &c. 

My doggie and my little kit 
That held my wee soup whey, 

My plaidie, broach, and crooked stick, 
May now lie useless by. 
Oh the broom, &c. 

Adieu, ye Cowdenknowes, adieu, 

Fareweel a* pleasures there ; 
Ye Gods, restore me to my swain, 
It 's a' I crave or care. 

Oh the broom, the bonnie bonnie broom, 

The broom of Cowdenknowes : 
I wish I were wi' my dear swain, 
Wi' his pipe and my ewes.* 


* To this song Ramsay subscribes the letters S. R., the initials, 
no doubt, of its author. This, therefore, is certainly not the ori- 
ginal, which in Ramsay's own time (as we learn from a duet in 
** The Gentle Shepherd") was a popular song. It must, indeed, be 
of a much earlier date, as in an old black letter (English) ballad of 
Charles or James the Second's time, '* To a pleasant Scotch time, 
called 'The Broom of Cowdenknows,'" we find the following 
burthen : — 

'* With oh, the broom, the bonnie broom, 
The broom of Cowdenknows ; 
Fain would I be in the North Country, 
To milk my daddie's ewes." 


SCOTISH SONGS. 205 


SONG LV.* 

"COWDEN^'-KNOWES. 
BY ROBERT CRAWFORD. 

When summer comes, the swains on Tweed 

Sing their successful loves, 
Around the ewes and lambkins feed, 

And music fills the groves. 

But my loved song is then the broom, 

So fair on Cowden-knowes ; 
For sure so sweet, so soft a bloom. 

Elsewhere there never grows. 

There Colin tuned his oaten reed, 

And won my yielding heart ; 
No shepherd e'er that dwelt on Tweed, 

Could play with half such art. 

He sang of Tay, of Forth, and Clyde, 

The hills and dales all round, 
Of Leader-haughs, and Leader-side ; 

Oh, how I bless'd the sound ! 

Yet more delightful is the broom 

So fair on Cowden-knowes ; 
For sure so fi*esh, so brigbt a bloom 

Elsewhere there never grows. 


2o6 


SCOTISH SONGS, 


Not Teviot braes, so green and gay, 
May with "this'* broom compare, 

Not Yarrow banks in flowery May, 
Nor the bush aboon Traquair. 

More pleasing far are Cowden-knowes, 

My peaceful happy home, 
Where I was wont to milk my ewes 

At e'en amang the broom. 

Ye powers that haunt the woods and plains 
Where Tweed with Teviot flows, 

Convey me to the best of swains. 
And my loved "Cowden^-knowes, 


SONG LVI. 


SAE MERRY AS WE HAE BEEN. 


#jt=&^ 


J J j.jijj Cif i rrfg 


X 


A lass that was la - den with care Sat hea - vi - ly 




un - der a thorn ; I lis - ten'd a while for to hear, When 





thus she be - gan for to mourn : Whene'er ray dear shep-herd was 


SCOTISff SONGS. 


207 



there, The birds did me - lo - dious-ly sing, And cold 


gf, c; r f I J Ol^jTIT 



bled the spring. Sae mer • ry as we twa hae been, Sae 

5 


t-^Ajs-^ 



cnrc/rfUO 


mer-ry as we twa hae been ; My heart it is like for 


j! j^jij ;.^ i tfrr-^ i JJj^ , ^ 


t 


to break, When I think on the days we bare seen. 


Our flocks feeding close by his side, 

He gently pressing my hand, 
I view'd the wide world in its pride, 

And laugh'd at the pomp of command ! 
My dear, he would ** oft " to me say, 

What makes you hard-hearted to me I 
Oh ! why do you thus turn away 

From him who is dying for thee 1 
Sae merry, &c 


But now he is far from my sight, 
Perhaps a deceiver may prove ; 

Which makes me lament day and night, 
That ever I granted my love. 


208 


SCOTISH SONGS. 

At eve, when the rest of the folk 
Were merrily seated to spin, 

I set myself under an oak, 
And heavily sighed for him. 
Sae merry, &c. 


SONG LVII. 


BY DR JOHN HOADLEY. 


Set by Hr Gkebn. 


|>"(^ ji I J f ^1 ^ 


Sweet An - nie frae the sea beach came, Where Jock - y 


'lJi^if'Sii^ \ \^uhirn^ \ 


speel'd the ves • sel's side ; Ah, wha can keep their heart at hame. 


^^m 


^ 


Cr'-^'J J l li J' l f U 


When Jock - 7*5 toss'd a - boon the tide? Far aff to 


^/frc /i^'^^Y^.J^.r cr 1 


dis - tant realms he gangs, Yet 111 be true as 



he has been ; And when ilk lass a - bout him 



thrangs, He'll think on An - nie, his faith - fu' ain. 


SCOTISH SONGS. 209 

I met our wealthy laird yestreen, 

Wi' gowd in hand he tempted me, 
He praised my brow, my rolling een, 

And made a brag o' what he 'd gie ; 
What though my Jocky 's far awa', 

Toss'd up and down the awsome main, 
I '11 keep my heart anither day, 

-Since Jocky may return again. 

Nae mair, false Jamie, sing nae mair, 

And fairly cast your pipe away \ 
My Jocky wad be troubled sair, 

To see his friend his love betray : 
For a' your songs and verse are vain, 

While Jock/s notes do faithfu' flow ; 
My heart to him shall true remain, 

I 'U keep it for my constant jo. 

Blaw saft, ye gales, round Jock/s head, 

And gar your waves be calm and still ; 
His hameward sail with breezes speed, 

And dinna a' my pleasure spill : 
What though my Jocky 's far away, 

Yet he will braw in siller shine ; 
I '11 keep my heart anither day. 

Since Jocky may again be mine. 


210 


SCOTJSH SONGS. 


SONG LVIII. 


THE SILLER CROWN. 


BY SUSANNA BLAMIRE. 


i^% :i\^J'i 


3 


TG=t 


'Uiiim 


And ye sail walk in silk at - tire. And 


t±hni-j 


sil - ler hae to 


^m 


spare, Gin ye HI con • sent to 


m 


i 


iJ^-^' JiJiirarnri 


^ 


be his 


is bride, Nor think o* 


Don - aid mair. Oh, wha wad 


E 


t 


I 


^ 


^rri" 


pn ^^U f 


1 


m 


buy a silk -en gown Wi* a poor bro-ken heart? Or 


I' 'fr fl rT f I f f J 


^n 


22t 


S 


32 


what's to me a sil - lercroMm,Gin frae my love I part 

The mind whase every wish is pure, 

Far dearer is to me ; 
And ere I 'm forced to " break " my faith, 

I ^11 lay me down and dee. 
For I hae pledged my virgin troth, 

Brave Donald's fate to share ; 
And he has gi'en to me his heart, 

Wi' a' its virtues rare. 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


211 


His gentle manners wan my heart, 

He gratefu' took the gift ; 
Could I but think to seek it back, 

It would be waur than theft 
For langest life can ne'er repay 

The love he bears to me ; 
And ere I 'm forced to " break ** my troth, 

I '11 lay me down and dee. 


SONG LVIIL* 


THE BONNIE LAD THAT 'S FAR AWA. 



Oh how can I be blythe and s^lad. Or how can I gang 


ih^t ^tvi 



brisk and braw,When the bon > nie lad that I loe best Is 


#^+T-^ 


^-^ ' f I ij ■ j; 


o'er the hills and far a - wa,When the bon - nie 


p.i^ \ i.nAri'H{i-t?>7^ 


lad that I loe best Is o'er the hills and far a - wa. 


* The first verse is old ; the rest are said to be written by Robert 
Bums. 


312 


SCOTISH SONGS. 

My father put me frae his door, 
My friends they hae disown'd me a', 

But there is ane will tak my part, 
The bomiie lad that 's far awa. 

A pair o' gloves he bought to me, 
And silken snoods he gae me twa, 

And I will wear them for his sake, 
The bonnie lad that 's far awa. 

O weary winter soon will pass, 

And spring will deed the birken shaw, 
And my young babie will be bom, 

And he '11 be hame that 's far awa. 


SONG LIX. 

WERENA MY HEART LIGHT I WAD DEE. 

BY LADY GRISSEL BAILLIE.* 


§■ II jj js J' ;' J' f. t-tt^ J' J >.i js J' !• r 

There was ance a inay,and she lo'ed na men, She hig - git her iTon- 


ii'r.c i r.j'j'Jf-iJ'j'j'j'BcifjJ 


niebowerdo\inmyongIen;Butnowshecries,DooHandA well • a -day I 


i fjUijuiJiUjf-J^ j I I r. I J' J' ; II 


Come doun the green gate,and come here a -way. But now shecries,&c. 

* Eldest daughter of Patrick first Earl of Marchmoht, and wife 
to George Baillie, Esq. of Jerviswood, whose widow she died on the 
6th of December 1746. 


SCOTISH SONGS. 2 13 

When bonnie young Johnnie cam o'er the sea, 
He said he saw naething sae lovely as me ; 
He hecht me baith rings and mony braw things ; 
And werena my heart licht I wad dee. 
He. hecht me, &c 


He had a wee titty that lo'ed na me. 
Because I was twice as bonnie as she ; 
She raised such a pother 'twixt him and his mother, 
That werena my heart licht I wad dee. 
She raised, &a 

The day it was set, and the bridal to be. 
The wife took a dwam, and lay down to dee ; 
She maned and she graned out of dolour and pain, 
Till he vow'd he never wad see me again. 
She maned, &c. 

His kin was for ane of a higher degree. 
Said, What had he to do with the like of me ? 
Albeit I was bonnie, I wasna for Johnnie : 
And werena my heart licht I wad dee. 
Albeit I was, &c. 

They said, I had neither cow nor calf. 
Nor dribbles of drink rins through the draflf. 
Nor pickles of meal rins through the mill-e'e ; 
And werena my heart licht I wad dee. 
Nor pickles of, &c. 


2 1 4 SCO TISH SONGS. 

His titty she was baith wylie and slee, 
She sp/d me as I cam o'er the lee ; 
And then she ran in and made a loud din. 
Believe your ain een, and ye trow na me. 
And then she, &c. 

His bonnet stood aye fu' round on his brow; 
His auld ane looked aye as weel as some's new; 
But now he lets 't wear ony gate it will hing, 
And casts himself dowie upon the com-bing. 
But now he, &c. 

And now he gaes " daundring" * about the dykes, 
And a' he dow do is to hund the tykes : 
The live-lang nicht he ne'er steeks his e'e, 
And werena my heart licht I wad dee. 
The liye-lang, &c. 

Were I young for thee, as I hae been. 
We should hae been galloping down on yon green. 
And linking it on the lily-white lea ; 
And wow gin I were but young for thee ! 
And linking, &c. 

* So Lord Hailes ; Ramsay and others read ** drooping." 


SCOT/SB SOJVGS. 


215 


SONG LX. 


MY DEARIE, AN THOU DEE. 


BY ROBERT CRAWFORD. 


Slow. 


fr-J^jj SJ j Ij. jjJJ^ ^ ^ 


Love nev-er more shall give me pain, My fan - cy*s fix'd on 


f^ J I J . J' J J] ffl M^tgrg- 


thee ; Nor ev - er maid my heart shall gain. My Peg - gy. 


^m 


t 


r f i r C Eff f i J^] J : 


an thou dee. Thy beau -ties did such plea - sure 


ft tf i rarnrim.j j i j a J 


^ 


give, Thy love 's so true to me : With - out thee I 


; |'j] i .^ J'T I! I If ^fpi^;ji 


shall nev - er live, My dear • ie, an thou dee. 

If fate shall tear thee from my breast, 

How shall I lonely stray 1 
In dreary dreams the night I '11 waste. 

In sighs the silent day. 
I ne'er can so much virtue find, 

Nor such perfection see ; 
Then I '11 renounce all womankind, 

My Peggy, after thee. 


2X6 


SCOTISff SONGS. 


No new-blown beauty fires my heart 

With Cupid's raving rage, 
But thine, which can such sweets impart, 

Must all the world engage. 
'Twas this that, like the morning sun, 

Gave joy and life to me ; 
And when its destined day is done. 

With Peggy let me dee. 

Ye powers that smile on virtuous love. 

And in such pleasures share, 
You who its faithful flames approve, 

With pity view the fair : 
Restore my Pegg/s wonted charms. 

Those charms so dear to me ; 
Oh ! never rob me from those arms : 

I 'm lost if Peggy dee. 


SONG LXI. 


THE LOWLANDS OF HOLLAND. 





My love has built a bon-nie ship, and set her on the 


ji>jjj u--H^'J'-i'ir psf''^^ 


sea, With sev- en-score guid mar •i-ners to bear her com-i>an-ie. 


"*-r J-, -t;- 


wr*' "* ."^^"M"^* w"Pwy»i'B"w»» J" 


SCOTISir SONGS. 


jffM: c r fr J^U' J'J^ fi 


m 


c I r- • ^' J'- ■>' 


217 


t 


There 's three - score is sunk, and three-score dead at ' sea, 


^ 


fs=ts: 


low 


^ 1^ 


And the lowlands of Hoi land hae twined my love and me. 


My love he built anither ship, and set her on the main, 
And nane but twenty mariners for to bring her hame ; 
But the weary wind began to rise, and the sea began to 

rout, 
My love then and his bonnie ship tum'd withershins 

about. 

There shall neither coif come on my head, nor comb 

come in my hair, 
There shall neither coal nor candle light shine in my 

bower mair j 
Nor will I love anither ane, until the day I dee ; 
For I never loved a love but ane, and he 's drown'd in 

the sea. 


Oh hand your tongue, my daughter dear, be still and be 

content ; 
There are mair lads in Galloway, ye needna sair lament. 
Oh 1 there is nane in Galloway, there 's nane at a' for 

me; 
For I never loved a love but ane, and he *s drown'd in 

the sea. 


2l8 


SCOTISH SONGS, 


SONG LXII. 


AULD ROBIN GRAY. 

BY LADY ANN LINDSAY.* 
Tune—'* The Bridegroom grat." 


i 


i 


^\.-t J- J- 


^ 


E 


i=:Js 


^ 


When the sheep are in the fauld,and the kye at hame, And 



^oj: i j3iJ'fciirj^ ^ 


a' the warld to' sleep are gane; The waes o' my heart fa' 


n 


fiPi ^J'jvjjiiEf J^jcf i rjsj ii 


in showers frae my e'e. When my gude-man lies sound by me. 

Young Jamie lo^ed me weel, and sought me for his bride, 
But saving a crown he had naething beside ; 
To make that crown a pound, my Jamie ga'ed to sea ; 
And the crown and the pound were baith for me. 

He hadna been awa' a week but only twa, 

When my mother she fell sick, and the cow was stoun 

awa'; 
My father brak his arm, and my Jamie at the sea, 
And auld Robin Gray cam a-courting me. 

My father couldna work, and my mother couldna spin, 
I toird day and night, but their bread I couldna win ; 
Auld Rob maintained them baith, and wi' tears in his ee» 
Said, Jenny, for their sakes, O marry me. 

* Daughter to the late Earl of Balcarras. 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


219 


My heart it said nay, I look'd for Jamie back ; 
But the wind it blew high, and the ship it was a wreck : 
The ship it was a wreck, why didna Jamie dee % 
And why do I live to say wae 's me ? 

My father argued sair, though my mother didna speak, 
She look'd in my face till my heart was like to break ; 
So they gi'ed him my hand, though my heart was in the 

sea. 
And auld Robin Gray is gudeman to me. 

I hadna been a wife a week but only four. 
When moumfu' as I sat on the stane at the door, 
I saw my Jamie's wraith, for I couldna think it he. 
Till he said, I 'm come back for to marry thee. 


Oh sair did we greet, and muckle did we say. 
We took but ae kiss, and we tore ourselves away ; 
I wish I were dead ! but I 'm no like to dee ; 
And why do I live to say wae 's me. 

I gang like a ghaist, and I carena to spin ; 

I darena think on Jamie, for that would be a sin ; 

But I '11 do my best a gude wife to be. 

For auld Robin Gray is kind unto me. 


Ajftttuoso. 



When the sheep are in the fauld, and the kye at hame^And 


i 


i 


K=:JS 


i 



Jtl 


? 


a* the [wea - ry] warld to sleep are gane. The waes o' my 


220 


SCOTISff SONGS. 



heart fa' in showers frae my e'eiWhenmygudemanliessound by me. 


Andante. 


Ai^j l j-jJ'.J'JJ'J'ifjrf J:ij | 


Young Ja • mie lo'ed me weel,and [he] sought me for his bride ; But 


ft.i^J'n ijii,^ j'j'j^j^ij'; ' 


sav - ing a crown he had nae - thing be - side ; To make that 


Aj-.^'U-J- l f pC'JWj ;.^,|J9.c;f^ 


crown a pound my Ja - mie gaed to sea. And the crown and the 


jh H FT ji ;j ji^-|||j' J- 1 ji-7#^ 


pound were baith for me. He had - na been a - wa a 


Al^ /■ J ;■ ;il | |J' h J' | | J' J^^JJ 



week but on • ly twa^When my mo - ther she fell sick, and the 


E 


J^ C |J' J 1 JI J^ fT- ^' J J^ JlJ' S' 


cowwasstouna- wa'; My fa-ther brak his arm, and my Ja-mie 
L K ^ I . I rfl ^ -f ' f f ^ 


p J" ^M ^ ;■! JB 


< — ^ 


S 


3E=S 


at the sea, And auld Ro - bin Gray came a • court->ing me. 


SCO TISH SONGS. 2 2 1 


• SONG LXIII. 

BY JOSEPH MITCHELL. 
Tune—" Rothes's Lament ; or, Pinkie House." • 

As Sylvia in a forest lay, 

To vent her woe alone, 
Her swain, Sylvander, came that way, 

And heard her dying moan. 
Ah ! is my love (she said) to you 

So worthless and so vaini 
Why is your wonted fondness now 

Converted to disdain 1 

You vow'd the light should darkness turn, 

Ere you 'd exchange your love ; 
In shades now may creation mourn. 

Since you unfaithful prove. 
Was it for this I credit gave 

To eVry oath you swore 1 
But, ah ! it seems they most deceive. 

Who most our charms adore. 

Tis plain your drift was all deceit. 

The practice of mankind : 
Alas ! I see it, but too late. 

My love had made me blind. 

• See before, Song XIV. 


222 


SCOTISff SONGS, 


For you, delighted I could die : 
But, oh ! with grief I 'm fill'd. 

To think that credulous constant I 
Should by yourself be kill'd. 

This said — all breathless, sick and pale, 

Her head upon her hand. 
She found her vital spirits fail. 

And senses at a stand. 
Sylvander then began to melt : 

But e'er the word was given. 
The heavy hand of death she felt, 

And sigh'd her soul to heaven. 


i 


I 


SONG LXIV. 


BY DAVID MALLET.' 


e 


c rc f J'l^f ;■ J fS^ 



A youth a - dorn'd with ev* - ry art, To warm and 


#»''r' ci^ JJ ij>' U gr:f^a^ 


win the cold- est heart, In se-cret mine pos-sess'd : The mom-ing 


iM;^ i jJ3;j4jJ^j^jj j]]j'j.j' i 


bud that fair - est blows, The ver-nal oak that straightest grows. His 


f'fffjj: 


4^-q-t 


Its ^' J Ji"nF 


face and shape ex - pressed. His face and shape ex-press'd. 
* In " Alfred," a masque. 


SCOTISH SONGS, 

In moving sounds he told his tale, 
Soft as the sighings of the gale 

That wakes the flowery year. 
What wonder he could charm with ease ! 
Whom happy Nature form'd to please, 

Whom Love had made sincere. 

At mom he left me — fought, and fell ! 
The fatal evening heard his knell, 

And saw the tears I shed : 
Tears that must ever, ever fall ; 
For ah ! no sighs the past recall, 

No cries awake the dead ! 


223 


SONG LXV. 


RARE WILLY DROWN'D IN YARROW. 


fi^. in HJyj.J i p c'rc ri 


Wil-ly's rare, and Wil-ly's fair, And Wil-ly*s won • drous 


^,ff^i^ i c g rcr i Jyj. fl i j'J' 


bon - nie. And Wil - ly heght to mar - ry me, Gin e'er he 


W 


5 


#■ 


I 


££ 


mar - ried ony, [Oh ! gin e'er he mar - ried ony.] 

Yestreen I made my bed fu' braid, 
This night I '11 make it narrow ; 

For a' the live-lang winter night 
I lie twin'd of my marrow. 


2 24 SCOTISH SONGS. 

Oh cam you by yon water-side 1 

Pu'd you the rose or lily? 
Or cam you by yon meadow green ? 

Or saw you my sweet Willy 1 

She sought him east, she sought him west, 
She sought him braid and narrow 3 

Syne, in the cleaving of a craig, 
She found him drown'd in Yarrow. 


SONG LXVI. 

BY MISS HOME. 
Tune— "The Flowers of the Forest"* 

Adieu, ye streams that smoothly glide 

Through mazy windings o'er the plain ; 
I '11 in some lonely cave reside. 

And ever mourn my faithful swain. 
Flower of the forest was my love, 

Soft as the sighing summer's gale, 
Gentle and constant as the dove. 

Blooming as roses in the vale. 

Alas 1 by Tweed my love did stray, 
For me he searched the banks around ; 

But, ah ! the sad and fatal day. 
My love, the pride of swains, was drown'd. 

♦ See Class IV., Song I. 


SCOTISff SONGS, 

Now droops the willow o'er the stream, 
Pale stalks his ghost in yonder grove, 

Dire fancy paints him in my dream, 
Awake I mourn my hopeless love. 


225 


SONG LXVII. 


HELEN OF KIRKCONNELL.* 


i f/ a J I c ^ jf n tf ^^Ufijij^^jaj 


I wish I were where He- len lies, Where day and night she 


^^^^p^ 


~^ J.^ l 


on me cries, Where day and night she on me cnes ! I 


il^" f J r g I f f It inmn^ 


wish I were where He - len lies, On fair Kirk-con - nell 

* The story of this ballad is thus given by Mr Pennant : — 
•*In the burying-ground of Kirkconnell is the grave of the fair 
Ellen Irvine, and that of her lover : she was daughter of the house 
of Kirkconnell, and was beloved, by two gentlemen at the same 
time ; the one vowed to sacrifice the successful rival to his resent- 
ment, and watched an opportunity while the happy pair were sitting 
on the banks of the Kirtle, that washes these grounds. Helen per- 
ceived the desperate lover on the opposite side, and, fondly think- 
ing to save her favourite, interposed ; and receiving the wound in* 
tended for her beloved, fell and expired in his arms. He instantly 
revenged her death, then fled into Spain, and served for some time 
against the infidels ; on his return he visited the grave of his unfor- 
tunate mistress, stretched himself on it, and, expiring on the spot, 
was interred by her side. A sword and a cross are engraven on the 
tombstone, with hie jacet Adam Fleming; the only memorial of 

P 


226 


SCOTISff SONGS. 


^4iiHi^/E;^'^-^ 


— 8- 


lea ! O He - len fair I O He - len chaste I Were I with thee I 

3 


i b'^-^^'Ulv 


^m 


t 


would be blest! Were I with thee 


would be blest 1 Where 


y rgr'"^Tg^ 



thou liest lowland at thy rest, On fair Kirk -con - nell lea. 


I wish my grave were growing green ! 
My winding sheet put o'er my een ! 
I wish my grave were growing green, 

On fair Kirkconnell lea ! 


Where Helen lies ! where Helen lies ! 
I wish I were where Helen lies ! 
Soon may I be where Helen lies ! 

Who died for luve of me. 

this unhappy gentleman, except an ancient ballad of no great merit, 
which records the tragical event ; " " which," he adds in a note, 
** happened either the latter end of the reign of James V. or the 
beginning of that of Mary." " Tour in Scotland," II. loi. 

The MS. account transmitted to the editor by a learned and in- 
genious gentleman in Scotland, well known in the literary world, 
represents the lovers " walking" instead of " sitting," and takes no 
notice of Adam's flight into Spain and service against the infidels, 
who were, in fact, completely subdued many years before the reign 
of James V. It adds that, " on the spot where Helen fell was 
erected a cairn." 

Whether this be the "ancient ballad" alluded to by Mr Pennant 
is uncertain. Indeed, from the following passage in one written by 
"Thomas Poynton, a pauper, after he had read Drummond of 
Hawthomden's History of Scotland," printed in the GentUman^s 
Magaune^ for July 1783, there appears some reason to think that it 


SCOTISff SONGS, 


227 


SONG LXVIIL 


THE BRAES OF YARROW. 


TO LADt JANE HOME. 


IN IMITATION OF THE ANCIENT SCOTISH MANNER. 


BY WILLIAM HAMILTON OF BANGOUR. 


^ 


i 


c c Ji- l J^ 


m 


W ■ f^ r ■ Z. ^ lu 1_K : 

. Busk ye, busk ye, my bon - nie bon - nic bride. Busk ye, 


r^Ef ^' i ^ cf g 


^^S 


busk ye, my win - some mar-row I Busk ye, busk ye, my bon • nie 


i/ r f J ■ iT'i 


j'^ c : 


^m 


bon • nie bride,And think nae mair of the Braes of Yar - row. 

is not, or at least that the writer describes a very different perform- 
ance: — 

" T'other day as she work*d at her wheel. 

She sang of fair Eleanor's fate. 
Who fell by stem jealousy's steel. 
As on Kirtle's smooth margin she sate. 

''Her lover, to shield from the dart. 
Most eagerly she interposed ; 
The arrow transpierced her fond heart. 
The fair in his arms her eyes closed. 

" O Fleming ! how wretched thy doom. 
Thy love to see wounded to death ; 
No wonder that, stretch'd on her tomb. 
In grief thou surrend'red'st thy breath. 

" Yet one consolation was thine. 
To soften fate's rigid decree, 
Thy mistress her life did resign, 
A martyr to love and to thee." 


228 


SCOTISff SONGS. 


y [^ vi-m^ c p ^ jri[ f r c ^^ 


j9. Where gat ye that bon-niebon«nie bride? Where gat ye that 


f Cf^tf f. nm ^ 


^ 


win -some mar • row? ^. I gat her where I dare - na well 


f'r jriJj n'Cf^ c i jj'jJ J II 


be seen, Pu • ing the birks on the Braes of Yar - row. 


Weep not, weep not, my bonnie bonnie bride, 
Weep not, weep not, my winsome marrow. 

Nor let thy heart lament to leive 

Puing the birks on the Braes of Yarrow. 

B. Why does she weep, thy bonnie bonnie bride ? 

Why does she weep, thy winsome marrow ? 
And why dare ye nae mair weil be seen 

Puing the birks on the Braes of Yarrow? 

A, Lang maun she weep, lang maun she, maun she 
weep, 

Lang maun she weep with dule and sorrow ; 
And lang maun I nae mair weil be seen 

Puing the birks on the Braes of Yarrow. 


For she has tint her luver, luver dear, 
Her luver dear, the cause of sorrow. 

And I hae slain the comliest swain 
That e'er pu'd birks on the Braes of Yarrow. 


SCOTISH SONGS, 229 

Why runs thy stream, O Yarrow, Yarrow red ? 

Why on thy braes heard the voice of sorrow ? 
And why yon melancholeous weids 

Hung on the bonnie birks of Yarrow. 

What's yonder floats on the rueful, rueful fludel 
What 's yonder floats ? O dule and sorrow ! 

Tis he the comely swain I slew 
Upon the duleful Braes of Yarrow. 

Wash, O wash his wounds, his wounds in tears, 
His wounds in tears, with dule and sorrow, 

And wrap his limbs in mourning weids, 
And lay him on the Braes of Yarrow. 

Then build, then build, ye sisters, sisters sad. 

Ye sisters sad, his tomb with sorrow. 
And weep around in waeful wise, 

His hapless fate on the Braes of Yarrow. 

Curse ye, curse ye, his useless, useless shield. 
My arm that wrought the deed of sorrow. 

The fatal spear that pierced his breast, 
His comely breast on the Braes of Yarrow. 

Did I not warn thee not to lu'e, 
And warn from fight 1 but to my sorrow. 

O'er rashly bald, a stronger arm 
Thou met'st, and fell on the Braes of Yarrow. 


i^ 


230 SCOTISH SONGS, 

Sweet smells the birk, green grows, green grows the 
grass, 

Yellow on YarroVs bank the gowan, 
Fair hangs the apple frae the rock, 

Sweet the wave of Yarrow flowan. 

Flows Yarrow sweet 1 as sweet, as sweet flows Tweed, 

As green its grass, its gowan yellow, 
As sweet smells on its braes the birk. 

The apple frae the rock as mellow. 

Fair was thy luve, fair, fair indeed thy luve. 
In "flowery*' bands thou him did'st fetter; 

Tho' he was fair and well beluv'd again. 
Than me, he never lu^ed thee better. 

Busk ye, then busk, my bonnie bonnie bride. 

Busk ye, busk ye, my winsome marrow. 
Busk ye, and lu'e me on the banks of Tweed, 

And think nae mair on the Braes of Yarrow. 

C. How can I busk a bonnie bonnie bride 1 

How can I busk a winsome marrow ; 
How lu'e him on the banks of Tweed, 

That slew my luve on the Braes of Yarrow? 

O Yarrow fields, may never, never rain, 

No dew thy tender blossoms cover, 
For there was basely slain my luve. 

My luve, as he had not been a luver. 


SCOTISH SONGS. 23 1 

The boy put on his robes, his robes of green, 

His purple vest, 'twas my awn sewin' ; 
Ah ! wretched me ! I little, little ken'd 

He was in these to meet his ruin. 


The boy took out his milk-white, milk-white steed, 

Unheedful of my dule and sorrow ; 
But e'er the too-fa' of the night 

He lay a corpse on the Braes of Yarrow. 

Much I rejoiced that waeful, waeful day j 
I sang, my voice the woods returning ; 

But lang e'er night the spear was flown 
That slew my luve, and left me mourning. 

What can my barbarous, barbarous father do, 

But with his cruel rage pursue me ] 
My luver's blood is on thy spear. 

How can'st thou, barbarous man, then woo me ? 

My happy sisters may be, may be proud. 

With cruel and ungentle scoffin. 
May bid me seek on Yarrow Braes 

My luver nailfed in his coffin. 

My brother Douglas may upbraid, 

And strive with threatening words to move me. 
My luver's blood is on thy spear. 

How can'st thou ever bid me luve thee 1 




232 SCOTJSH SONGS. 

Yes, yes, prepare the bed, the bed of luve, 
With bridal sheets my body cover. 

Unbar, ye bridal maids, the door, 
Let in the expected husband luver. 

But who the expected husband, husband is ? 

His hands, methinks, are bathed in slaughter : 
Ah me ! what ghastly spectre's yon, 

Comes, in his pale shroud, bleeding after ? 

Pale as he is, here lay him, lay him down, 
O lay his cold head on my pillow ; 

Take afF, take aflf these bridal weids, 
And crown my careful head with willow. 

Pale tho* thou art, yet best, yet best beluv'd, 
O could my warmth to life restore thee ! 

Yet lye all night between my breists, 
No youth lay ever there before thee. 

Pale, pale indeed, O lovely, lovely youth^ 
Forgive, forgive so foul a slaughter. 

And lye all night between my breists. 
No youth shall ever lye there after. 

A. Return, return, O mournful, mournful bride, 
Return, and dry thy useless sorrow, 

Thy luver heeds nought of thy sighs, 

He lyes a corpse on the Braes of Yarrow. 


SCOTISH SONGS. 233 

SONG LXIX. 

THE BRAES OF YARROW.* 

BY THE REV, JOHN LOGAN, 
ONE OF THE MINISTERS OF LEITH. 

Thy Braes were bonnie, Yarrow stream ! 

When first on them I met my lover ; 
Thy Braes how dreary, Yarrow stream ! 

When now thy waves his body cover ! 
- For ever now, O Yarrow stream ! 

Thou art to me a stream of sorrow ; 
For never on thy banks shall I 

Behold my love, the flower of Yarrow. 

He promised me a milk-white steed. 

To bear me to his father's bowers ; 
He promised me a little page. 

To 'squire me to his father's towers ; 
He promised me a wedding ring, — 

The wedding-day was fixed to-morrow ; — 
Now he is wedded to his grave, 

Alas, his watery grave, in Yarrow ! 

Sweet were his words when last we met : 

My passion I as freely told him ! 
Clasp'd in his arms, I little thought 

That I should never more behold him ! 

The air is supposed to be that of the preceding song. 


234 SCOTISH SONGS. 

Scarce was he gone, I saw his ghost, 
It vanished with a shriek of sorrow ; 

Thrice did the water-wraith ascend. 
And gave a doleful groan through Yarrow. 

His mother from the window look'd 

With all the longing of a mother ; 
His little sister weeping walk'd 

The green-wood path to meet her brother : 
They sought him east, they sought him west, 

They sought him all the forest thorough ; 
They only saw the cloud of night, 

They only heard the roar of Yarrow ! 

No longer from thy window look. 

Thou hast no son, thou tender mother ! 
No longer walk, thou lovely maid ! 

« 

Alas, thou hast no more a brother ! 
No longer seek him east or west. 

And search no more the forest thorough ! 
For, wandering in the night so dark. 

He fell a lifeless corpse in Yarrow. 

The tear shall never leave my cheek. 

No other youth shall be my marrow ; 
I'll seek thy body in the stream. 

And then with thee I'll sleep in Yarrow, 
The tear did never leave her cheek, 

No other youth became her marrow ; 
She found his body in the stream. 

And now with him she sleeps in Yarrow. 


SCOTISff SONGS. 


235 


SONG LXX. 


WALY, WALY, GIN LOVE BE BONNIE. 


Slow. 


m 


i 


i « p § 


m 


Oh wa - ly, wa - ly up the bank, And wa - ly, wa - ly 


:A 


^^ 


iS 


^m 


down the brae. And wa - ly, wa - ly yon bum - side, Where 


dt 


^^ 


i|; I ^ J' J • J' l 


?=p: 


I and my love wont to gae. I lean'd my back un- 


P^^^f iAt li 


^S 


to an aik, I thought it was a trust - y tree, But 



J'j',,j.c i J'ji.^j<aij;^ ^ 


first it bow'd,andsyneitbrak,Sae my truelove did light-lie me. 


O waly, waly, but love be bonnie, 

A little time while it is new, 
But when it's auld it waxeth cauld, 

And fades away like the morning dew. 
O wherefore should I busk my head ] 

Or wherefore should I kame my hair ? 
For my true love has me forsook, 

And says hell never love me main 


236 SCOTISH SONGS. 

Now Arthur ^Seat* shall be my bed, 

The sheets shall ne'er be press'd by me, 
Saint Anton's well shall be my drink, 

Since my true love has forsaken me. 
Martinmas wind, when wilt thou blaw, 

And shake the green leaves aflf the tree 1 
O gentle death, when wilt thou come % 

For of my life I am wearie. 

Tis not the frost that freezes fell, 

Nor blawing snaw's inclemencie, 
'Tis not sic cauld that makes me cry, 

But my love's heart grown cauld to me. 
When we came in by Glasgow toun, 

We were a comely sight to see ; 
My love was clad in the black velvet. 

And I mysel' in cramasie. 

But had I wist, before I kiss'd, 

That love had been so ill to win, 
I'd lock'd my heart in a case of gold. 

And pinn'd it with a silver pin. 
Oh, oh ! if my young babe were bom. 

And set upon the nurse's knee ; 
And I mysel' were dead and gane, 

For a maid again I '11 never be ! 

* A high hill near Edinburgh. 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


237 


SONG LXXI. 


LADY ANN BOTHWELL'S "LAMENT." 


§-i\\ni J.,r;J'Nh;.j C i c 6 f 


Ba - loo, my boy, lie still and sleep, It grieves me 


f ^ Jif i : r'c i M; J. rtJ' 


sore to hear thee weep: If thou 'It be si - lent 


* 


f 'i'^' i} \ l 6f ::; J'Kc \ ri i 


I 'H be glad, Thy moum-ing makes my^ heart full sad. 


I 


I 







Ba - loo, my boy, thy mo • ther*s joy, Thy fa-ther's 


i 


t r ^ l A. 


C'f fi'l f^ 


s 



bred me great an - noy. Ba - loo, my boy, lie still 

'it K d- « I . a I , I r^ 


and sleep, It grieves me sore to hear thee weeD. 


hear thee weep. 


Baloo, my darling, sleep a while, 
And when thou " wak'st," then sweetly smile ; 
But smile not as thy father did, 
To cozen maids j nay, God forbid : 
But in " thine eye" his look I see, 
" The tempting look that ruin'd me." 
Baloo, &c. 


238 SCOTISH SONGS. 

When he began to court my love, 
And with his sugar d words to move ; 
His tempting face and flattering cheer 
In time to me did not appear j 
But now I see that cruel he 
Cares neither for his babe nor me. 
Baloo, &c. 

I was -too credulous at the first 
To grant thee " all" a maiden durst ; 
** Thou swore for ever true to prove, 
Thy faith unchanged, unchanged thy love ; 
But quick as thought the change is wrought, 
Thy love's no more, thy promise nought." 
Baloo, &c. 

I wish I were a maid again, 
From young " men's" flattery I'd refrain ; 
For now unto my grief I find. 
They "all are" faithless and unkind, 
Their tempting charms " bred all" my harms, 
Witness my babe lies in my arms. 
Baloo, &c. 

I take my fate from " bad" to worse, 
That I must needs "be now" a nurse. 
And lull my young son in my lap ; 
From me, sweet orphan, take the pap : 
Baloo, my boy, thy mother mild 
Shall sing, as from all bliss exiled. 
Baloo, &c. 


SCOTISH SONGS. 239 

£aloo, my child, weep not for me, 
Whose greatest griefs for wronging thee, 
Nor pity her deserved smart, 
Who can blame hone but her " fond" heart ; 
For too soon, trusting latest " finds" 
That fairest tongues have falsest minds. 
Baloo, &c. 

Baloo, my boy, thy father's " fled," 
When he the thriftless son has play'd j 
Of vows and oath forgetful, he 
Preferred the wars to thee and me : 
But now, perhaps, thy curse and mine 
Makes him eat acorns with the swine. 
Baloo, &c. 

Farewell, farewell, thou falsest youth, 
That ever kiss'd a woman's mouth ; 
Let never any after me 
Submit unto thy courtesy ; 
For if she do. Oh I cruel thou 
" Wilt" her abuse, and care not how. 
Baloo, &c. 

" But curse not him, perhaps now he. 
Stung with remorse, is blessing thee : " 
Perhaps at death, for who can tell. 
Whether the judge of heaven and hell, 
" By some proud foe has struck the blow, 
' And laid the dear deceiver low.** 
Baloo, &c. 


24P SCOTISH SONGS. 

I wish I were into "the'* bounds 
Where he lies smother'd in his wounds, 
Repeating, as he pants for air, 
My name, whom once he call'd his fair : 
No woman is so fiercely set, 
But " she'ir* forgive, though not forget. 
Baloo, &c. 

If linen lacks, for my love's sake, 
Then quickly to him would I make, 
My smock, once for his body meet, 
And wrap him in that winding-sheet : 
Ay me ! how happy had I been. 
If he had ne'er been wrapt therein ! 
Baloo, &c. 

Baloo, my boy, I'll weep for thee, 
** Too soon, alake, thou'lt weep for me ! " 
Thy griefs are growing to a sum, 
God grant thee patience when they come ! 
Bom to " sustain" thy mother's shame ; 
A hapless fate, a bastard's name ! 
Baloo, &c. 



CLASS THE SECOND. 


SONG I. 


THE GABERLUNZIE MAN. 


BY KING JAMES V. 


4^/11 J^lj^.J= j-;3 ^'i;] j- j~ 


The pawk • y auld carle came o'er the lea, Wi' 



mo - ny gude e'ens and days to me. Say - ing, 


f J' i JMi I JJ 


C fe i \ 


Gude - wife, for your cour - te • sie, Will you 


^>" Ji J' "^ •"■ J 


1 ^^ 


lodge a sil - ly puir man? The nicht was 


f I Ji^^ 



N — N 


cauld, the carle was wat, And down a - yont 

Q 


the 


■B"^ 


^ 


^P 


J 


242 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


i 


J- j'f J'lJlS ^'f !^ 


in : gle he sat; My doch - tor's shoul-ders he 'gan 



to clap, And cadg - i - ly rant - ed and sang. 

O WOW ! quo' he, were I as free, 
As first when I saw this countrie, 
How blythe and merry wad I be ! 

And I wad never think lang. 
He grew canty, and she grew fain ; 
But little did her auld minny ken 
What thir slee twa togither were sa3ang, 

When wooing they were sae thrang. 


And O ! quo' he, an ye were as black 
As e'er the crown of my daddy's hat, 
'Tis I wad lay thee by my back. 

And awa' wi' me thou should gang. 
And O ! quo' she, an I were as white, 
As e'er the snaw lay on the dike, 
I 'd deed me braw and lady Uke, 

And awa* with thee I 'd gang. 


Between the twa was made a plot \ 
They raise a wee before the cock, 
And wilily they shot the lock. 
And fast to the bent are they gane. 


SCOT/SB- SOJ^GS. 243 

Up the mom the auld wife raise, 
And at her leisure put on her claise ; 
Syne to the servant's bed she gaes, 
To speer for the silly poor man. 

She gaed to the bed where the beggar lay, 
The strae was cauld, he was away. 
She clapt her hands, cried, Waladay, 

For some of our gear will be gane. 
Some ran to coffer, and some to kist, 
But nought was stown that could be miss'd. 
She danced her lane, cried, Praise be blest, 

I have lodged a leal poor man. 

Since naething 's awa*, as we can learn. 

The kirn's to kirn, and milk to earn, 

Gae butt the house, lass, and wauken my bairn, 

And bid her come quickly ben. 
The servant gade where the dochter lay, 
The sheets were cauld, she was away. 
And fast to the gudewife 'gan say. 

She 's aflf wi' the gaberlunzie-man. 

O fy gar ride, and fy gar rin. 

And haste ye find these tra3rtors again ; 

For she 's be burnt, and he 's be slain, 

The wearifu' gaberlunzie-man. 
Some rode upo' horse, some ran a fit, 
The wife was wud, and out o' her wit : 
She couldna gang, nor yet could she sit. 

But aye she cursed and she bann'd. 


mtm 


244 SCOTISH SONGS. 

Meantime far hind out o'er the lea, 

Fu' snug in a glen, where nane could see, 

The twa, with kindly sport and glee. 

Cut frae a new cheese a whang : 
The priving was good, it pleased them baith, 
To lo'e her for aye, he gae her " his'' aith ; 
Quo' she, To leave thee I will be laith, 

My winsome gaberlunzie-man. 

kenn'd my minny I were wi' you, 
Ill-far' dly wad she crook her mou', 
Sic a poor man she 'd never trow, 

After the gaberlunzie-man. 
My dear, quo' he, ye 're yet o'er young, 
And haena leam'd the beggars' tongue, 
To follow me frae town to town. 

And carry the gaberlunzie on. 

Wi' cauk and keel I '11 win your bread, 
And spindles and whorles for them wha need, 
Whilk is a gentle trade indeed. 
To carry the gaberlunzie " on." 

1 '11 bow my leg, and crook my knee. 
And draw a black clout o'er my ee, 
A cripple or blind they will ca' me, 

While we shall be merry and sing. 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


245 


SONG II. 

THE JOLLY BEGGAR. 


BY KING JAMES V. 


I 


P 


K=f5 


l UiM 


± 


m 


^ 


(srN 


There was a jol - ly l>eg-gar,aiid a begging he was boun',And 


i 


g ^ u g g- g ^ivj^;j j'f 


-3-# — 


h^ tookup his quar-ters in- to a Iand'arttown.Andwe'llgangnae 


m 


i 


fcfS 




mair a rov- ing, Sae late in - to the night,Andwe'llgangnae maira 



^tc|J'J'J'jvJj'|Jj'./J.V'JJj'l l 


roving, Let the moon shine e'er so bright, And we'll gangnae mair arov-ing. 

He wad neither lie in bam, nor yet wad he in byre, 
But in ahint the ha' door, or else afore the fire. 
And we '11 gang nae mair, &c. 

The beggar's bed was made at e'en wi' gude clean straw 

and hay, 
And in ahint the ha' door, and there the beggar lay. 
And we '11 gang nae mair, &c. 

Up raise the gudeman's dochter, and for to bar the door. 
And there she saw the beggar standin i' the floor. 
And we '11 gang nae mair, &c. 


246 SCOTISH SONGS. 

He took the lassie in his arms, and to the bed he ran, 
O hooly, hooly wi' me, sir, ye *11 wauken our gudeman. 
And we '11 gang nae mair, &c. 

The beggar was a cunnin' loon, and ne'er a word he 

spak. 
Until he got his turn done, syne he began to crack. 
And we '11 gang nae mair, &c. 

Are there ony dogs into this town 1 maiden, tell me true. 
And what wad ye do wi' them, my hinny and my doo ? 
And we '11 gang nae mair, &c. 

They '11 rive a* my meal pocks, and do me meikle wrang. 

dool for the doing o't ! are ye the poor man 1 

And we '11 gang nae mair, &c 

Then she took up the meal pocks and flang them o'er 

the wa' ; 
The d — 1 gae wi' the meal pocks, my maidenhead and a'. 
And we '11 gang nae mair, &c. 

1 took ye for some gentleman, at least the laird o' 

Brodie ; 
O dool for the doing o't ! are ye the poor bodie? 
And we '11 gang nae mair, &a 

He took the lassie in his arms, and gae her kisses three, 
And four-and-twenty hunder merk to pay the nourice- 
fee. 
And we '11 gang nae mair, &c. 


SCOTISJI SONGS. 


247 


He took a horn frae his side, and blew baith loud and 

shrill, 
And four-and-twenty belted knights came skippin' o'er 

the hilL 
And we '11 gang nae mair, &c. 

And he took out his little knife, loot a' his duddies fa', 
And he was the brawest gentleman that was amang them 
a'. 
And we '11 gang nae mair, &c. 

The beggar was a clever loon, and he lap shoulder 

height : 
O aye for sicken quarters as I gat yesternight ! 
And we '11 gang nae mair, &c. 


SONG HI. 


THE COCK LAIRD. 


P f l cr f f i r f l ^ 



es 


A cock laird, fu' cadg - ie, "^^th Jen - ny did meet ; 


^ 


+fyii-^ 


p 


^ 


He hawsedher, he kiss'dher, And ca'd her his sweet 

tr 



Wilt thou gae a - lang wi' me, Jen - ny, Jen - nyt 


|» p j.j'cjio.n ^ 


Thou 'se be my ain lem-mane,jo Jen - ny 


, quoth he. 


248 SCOT/SB- SOJ\rGS. 

If I gae alang wi* ye, 

Ye maunna fail 
To feast me with caddels, 

And gude hacket-kail. 
The deil 's in your nicety, 

Jenny, quoth he ; 
Ma)ma bannocks of bear-meal 

Be as gude for thee 1 

And I maun hae pinners. 

With pearlin's set roun', 
A skirt of puady, 

And a waistcoat of broun. 
Awa with sic vanities, 

Jenny, quoth he ; 
For curches and kirtles 

Are fitter for thee. 

My lairdship can yield me 

As meikle a year 
As haud us in pottage 

And gude knockit beer ; 
But havin' nae tenants, 

O Jenny, Jenny, 
To buy ought I ne'er have 

A penny, quoth he. 

The borrowstoun merchants 
Will sell ye on tick. 

For we maun hae braw things, 
Albeit they soud break : 


SCOT/SB SONGS. 

When broken, frae care 
The fools are set free, 

When we mak them lairds 
In the abbey, quoth she.* 


249 


SONG IV. 
MY JO JANET, 


i ftrrj' [, [. f, r ■ C, y^ f . [, J' J J 


Sweet sir, for your cour-te - sie, When ye come by the Bass then, 


fif(i f rrc r- i^it c c J-j 


For the love ye bear to me, Buy me « a keek • in' glass then. 


p [ p J'J' jj' j ^ 


Keek in • to the draw - weU, Jan • et, Jan - et ; And 


p t r J'^^^ 


t 


there yell see your bon - nie sel', My jo* Jan - et. 

Keekin' in the draw-well clear, 

What if I fa' in, sir 1 
Syne a' my kin will say and swear, 

I droun'd myseF for sin, sir. 


* To ''mok them lairds in the abbey ** is to compel them to seek 
protection within the verge or precinct of Holyrood house, where 
debtors are privileged from arrests. 


250 SCOTISir SONGS. 

Haud the better by the brae, 
Janet, Janet; 

Haud the better by the brae, 
My jo Janet 

Gude sir, for your courtesie, 

Comin' through Aberdeen then, 
For the love ye bear to me. 

Buy me a pair of shoon then. 
Clout the auld, the new are dear, 

Janet, Janet ; 
Ae pair may gain ye hauf a year. 
My jo Janet 

But what if dancin* on the green. 

And skippin' like a maukin', - 
If they should see my clouted shoon. 

Of me they will be taukin'. 
Dance ay laigh, and late at e'en, 

Janet, Janet ; 
Syne a' their faults will no be seen, 
My jo Janet 

Kind sir, for your courtesie, 

When ye gae to the cross then, 
For the love ye bear to me, 

Buy me a pacin* horse then. 
Pace upon your spinnin'-wheel, 
Janet, Janet ; 
, Pace upon your spinnin'-wheel, 

My jo Janet 


SCOTISH SONGS. 

My spinnin'-wheel is auld and stiff, 

The rock o't winna stand, sir, 
To keep the temper-pin in tiff. 

Employs richt aft my hand, sir. 
Mak the best o*t that ye can, 

Janet, Janet ; 
But like it never wale a man, 
My jo Janet. 


251 


SONG V. 

AULD ROB MORRIS. 
MiTHER. 


iM^ \ li i l l J C fH^JJo l J 


[There's] Auld Rob Mor-riS} that wons in yoa glen. 


^,^''11 j; Jil ;j j^ ^ I PJ^^ ii'J i^ \ 1 I I 


He *s the king o' gude fel - lows and wale o' auld men» 


jA rj ij J 


S 


T — r 


Cf I Sflf n 


fct 


Has four-score o' black sheep, and four - score too ; 


^Aa\ ^i !-^Aj^j^f\'iiis 


[And] auld Rob Mor - ris is the man ye maun lo'e. 

DOCHTER. 

Haud your tongue, mither, and let that abee. 
For his eild and my eild can never agree : 


252 SCOT/SIT SONGS. 

They'll never agree, and that will be seen ; 
For he 's fourscore, and I 'm but fifteen. 

MiTHER. 

Haud your tongue, doehter, and lay by your pride, 
For he *s be the bridegroom, and ye 's be the bride ; 
He shall lie by your side, and kiss ye too : 
Auld Rob Morris is the man ye maun lo'e. 

DOCHTER. 

Auld Rob Morris I ken him fu' weel. 
His back it sticks out like ony peet-creel ; 
He 's out-shinn'd, in-knee'd, and ringle-ee'd too : 
Auld Rob Morris is the man I 'U ne'er lo'e. 

MiTHER. 

Tho' auld Rob Morris be an elderly man. 
Yet his auld brass it will buy a new pan ; 
Then, doehter, ye shouldna be so ill to shoe. 
For auld Rob Morris is the man ye maun lo'e. 

DoCHTER. 

But auld Rob Morris I never will hae, 
His back is sae stiff, and his beard is grown gray : 
I had rather dee than live wi' him a year ; 
Sae mair of Rob Morris I never will hear. 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


253 


SONG VI. 

NAE DOMINIES FOR ME, LADDIE. 


m 


^^ 


a 


tp 


u . m 


p-B r'^ 


^ 


I chanced to meet an air - y blade, A new-made 


( jS J.^gir [s r^qjiij\J y.^vf T : 


pul - pit - eer, lad * die, WithcockM-up hat and pow- 



der*d wig, 


Black coat and cufis 


fu' clear, lad • die. 


A lang cravat at him did wag, 
And buckles at his knees, laddie ; 

Says he, My heart, by Cupid's dart. 
Is captivate to thee, lassie. 

I'll rather chuse to thole grim death ; 

So cease and let me be, laddie. 
For what 1 says he. Gude troth, said I, 

Nae dominies for me, laddie. 

Ministers' stipends are uncertain rents 
For ladies' conjunct-fee, laddie : 

When books and gowns are all cried down, 
Nae dominies for me, laddie. 

But for your sake I '11 fleece the flock, 
Grow rich as I grow auld, lassie ; 

If I be spared I '11 be a laird. 
And thou's be Madam call'd, lassie. 


254 SCOTISH SONGS. 

But what if ye should chance to dee, 
Leave bairaies, ane or twa^ laddie % 

Naething wad be reserved for them 
But hair-mould books to gnaw, laddie. 


At this he angry was, I wat, 

He gloom'd and look'd fu' high, laddie : 
When I perceived this, in haste 

I left my dominie, laddie. 

Fare-ye-weel, my charming maid, 
This lesson learn of me, lassie, 

At the next offer hold him fast, 
That first maks love to thee, lassie. 

Then I returning hame again, 

And coming doun the toun, laddie, 

By my good luck I chanced to meet 
A gentleman dragoon, laddie ; 

And he took me by baith the hands, 
'Twas help in time of need, laddie : 

Fools on ceremonies stand, 
At twa words we agreed, laddie. 

He led me to his quarter-house, 
Where we exchanged a word, laddie : 

We had nae use for black gowns there. 
We married o'er the sword, laddie 


SCOTISH SONGS. 

Martial drums are music fine, 

Compared wi' tinkling bells, laddie ; 

Gold, red and blue, are more divine 
Than black, the hue of hell, laddie. 

Kings, queens, and princes, crave the aid 
Of my brave stout dragoon, laddie ; 

While dominies are much emplo/d 

'Bout whores and sackcloth-gowhs, laddie. 

Awa* wi' a' these whining loons. 
They look like Let me be, laddie ; 

I 've more delight in roaring guns ; 
Nae dominies for me, laddie. 


255 


SONG VII. 


SCORNFU' NANCY. 


^/<^MJ.J'J j^l J ^^^J.'^ I J.J'i?]j. | 


Nan-cy'sto the green-wood gane, To hear the gowd-spink 


^^lr^J■ l JJJ^JJ^lJ:^hJ^u.J^ 


chat-t'rmgyAndWil - lie he has fol - loVdher^To gain her 


i/ j^jjj.if i ijif f f r riLf rr Jja i 


lo¥e by flat-f ring : But a' that he could say or do, She 


* 


ts6 


SCOTISff SONGS. 


|'"f r is ii \ n hf' i r r^r rrl 


geck'd and scorn - ed 


at him ; And aye when he be- 


y-crr c J ritf f jn j.i.i f-ii 

ffan to woo. She bade him mind wha 'gat him. 


gan to woo. She bade him mind wha 'gat him. 

What ails ye at my dad, quoth he, 

My " minny," or my aunty 1 
With crowdy-mowdy they fed me, 

Lang-kail and ranty-tanty ; 
With bannocks of good barley-meal, 

Of thae there was richt plenty ; 
With chapped stocks fu' butter'd well ; 

And was not that richt dainty ) 

Altho' my father was nae laird, 

(*Tis daffin to be vaunty,) 
He keepit aye a gude kail-yard, 

A ha' house and a pantry : 
A gude blue bonnet on his head, 

An owrlay Ijout his craigie ; 
And aye until the day he died, 

He rade on gude shanks naggie. 

Now wae and wonder on your snout. 

Wad ye hae bonnie Nancy 1 
Wad ye compare yoursel' to me, 

A docken till a tansie 1 
I hae a wooer o' my ain. 

They ca' him souple Sandy, 
And weel I wat his bonnie mou' 

Is sweet like sugar-candy. 


SCOTISff SONGS. 2 5 7 

Wow, Nancy, what needs a' this din ] 

Do I no ken this Sandy 1 
I'm Sure the chief o' a' his kin 

Was Rab the beggar randy : 
His minny Meg upo' her back 

Bare baith him and his billy ; 
Will ye compare a nasty pack 

To me your winsome Willy ] 

My gutcher left a good braid sword, 

Tho' it be auld and rusty. 
Yet ye may tak it on my word, 

It is baith stout and trusty ; 
And ii I can but get it drawn, 

Which will be right uneasy, 
I shall lay baith my lugs in pawn, 

That he shall get a hcezy. 

Then Nancy turned her round about, 

^ And said, Did Sandy hear ye, 
Ye wadna miss to get a clout, 

I ken he disna fear ye : 
Sae haud your tongue and say nae mair, 

Set somewhere else your fancy ; 
For as lang's Sandy's to the fore, 

Ye never shall get Nancy. 


J 


2S8 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


SONG VIII. 


St 


LASS, GIN YE LO*E ME, TELL ME NOW. 
BY JAMES TYTLER. 


A 


m 


^m 


I J J' J J'l 


? 


I hae laid a her - ring in saut, Lass, gin ye loe me. 


rfiTr C ^'Ij ; J J' l J- J' M'. ■!' f I 


tell me now ! I hae breVd a for - pit o' maut, An' I 


n 


§i%^\\l\\^\nllM\^\n- 


can-na come il - ka day to woo. I hae a calf will soon be 


y 


a cow. Lass, gin ye lo*e me, tell me now! I hae a pig will 


tf AJ';.j;J'f,|pC'J-rffU']:' jl l 


soon be a sow, An' I can - na come il • . ka day to woo. 

I Ve a house on yonder muir, 
Lass, gin ye lo*e me, tell me now ! 
Three sparrows may dance upon the floor, 
And I canna come ilka day to woo. 
I hae a butt, and I hae a ben, 
Lass, gin ye lo'e me, tell me now ! 
I hae three chickens and a fat hen, 
And I canna come ony mair to woo. 


SCOTISH SONGS, 


259 


IVe a hen wi' a happity leg, 
Lass, gin ye lo'e me, tak' me now ! 
Which ilka day lays me an q^, 
And I canna come ilka day to woo. 
I hae a kebbock upon my shelf, 
Lass, gin ye lo'e me, tak' me now ! 
I downa eat it a' myself; 
And I winna come ony mair to woo.* 


SONG IX. 
FOR THE LOVE OF JEAN. 



Jock-y said to Jcn-ny, Jcn-ny, wilt thou do *t? Ne'er a fit, 


P 


F^-ftTcf ^IrT 


quo' Jen-ny, for my to-cher gude ; For my to - cher gude,I win - na 


$Ltj-^Jlj.j- , N%r i rf'rf ^^ 


mar - ry thee. E'en 's ye like, quo'Johnnie.ye may let it be. 


* There seems to exist an older song with a similar burden ; as 
Lord Hailes, in his notes on the "Wowing of Jok and Jynny," 
("Ancient Scottish Poems, 1770,") gives the following lines from 
'* a more modem Scottish ballad : '' 

" I ha a wie lairdschip down in the Merse, 
The nynetenth part of a gusse's gerse, 
And I wo'na cum every day to wow." 


26o 


SCOTISH SONGS, 


I hae gowd and gear, I hae land eneuch, 
I hae seven gude owsen ganging in a pleugh, 
Ganging in a pleugh, and linkin' o'er the lee ; 
And gin ye winna tak' me, I can let ye be. 

I hae a good ha' house, a barn and a byre, 
A stack afore the door, I *11 make a rantin' fire ; 
I '11 make a rantin' fire, and merry shall we be : 
And gin ye winna tak' me, I can let ye be. 

Jenny said to Jocky, gin ye winna tell. 
Ye shall be the lad, I *11 be the lass myseU : 
Ye're a bonnie lad, and I 'm a lassie free, 
Ye're welcomer to tak' me than to let me be. 


SONG X. 

BY THE REV. JOHN CLUNIE OF BORTHWICK. 
Tune — ** Happy Dick Dawson." 


rfi'' !i J3ij.jj'jiJ'.^' i rfrnJ-; 


I lo'e na a lad - die but ane, He lo'es na 


if^ jwrJ'J1;JT^73T7/JW^J''''1 


a lass - ie but me; He's will - ing to male* me hb 


i l' lffHl^UjUi p^ 


ain, An' his ain I'm will - ing to be: He coft me 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


261 


It 


jifl'll! f I fl ^rf f JT3T 7 J - . J: J' 


a roke - ly o' blue, 


pair o' rait -tens o' 


% 


gpTvjj J'jij'. j^ J' J- J' ^^\^'\ 


green, An' his price was a kiss o' my mou; 


#' ^ f I ^' r J' j^fe 


An' I paid him the debt yes - treen. 

My mither *s aye makin' a phrase, 

That I 'm lucky young to be wed ; 
But lang ere she countit my days, 

O' me she was brought to bed : 
Sae mither, just settle your tongue, 

An' dinna be flytin' sae bauld ; 
For we can do the thing whan we 're young 

That we canna do weel whan we 're auld. 


SONG XI. 

HAUD AW A' FRAE ME, DONALD.* 

O WILL you hae ta tartan plaid, 
Or will you hae ta ring, mattam 1 

Or will you hae ta kiss o' me 1 
And tat 's a pretty ting, mattam. 


* See before, Class I., Song XXVIII. 


262 SCOTISH SONGS. 

Haud awa', bide awa', 

Haud awa' frae me, Donald ; 

I '11 neither kiss nor hae a ring, 
Nae tartan plaids for me, Donald. 

O see you not her ponnie progues, 

Her fecket-plaid, plue, creen, mattam 1 
Her twa short hose, and her twa spiogs, 

And a shoulter-pelt apoon, mattam ? 
Haud awa', bide awa', 

Haud awa' frae me, Donald ; 
Nae shoulder-belts, nae trinkabouts, 

Nae tartan hose for me, Donald. 

Hur can peshaw a petter hough 

Tan him who wears ta crown, mattam ; 
HerseF hae pistol and claymore 

Ta fley ta lallant lown, mattam. 
Haud awa', haud awa', 

Haud awa' frae me, Donald ; 
For a' your houghs and warlike arms, 

You're no a match for me, Donald. 

Hursel' hae a short coat pe pocht, 

No trail my feets at rin, mattam ; 
A cutty sark o* goot ham sheet. 

My motter she be spin, mattam. 
Haud awa', haud awa', 

Haud awa' frae me, Donald ; 
Gae hame and hap your naked houghs, 

And fash nae mair wi' me, Donald. 


i 


SCOTISH SONGS, 263 

Ye's ne'er pe pidden work a turn 

At ony kind o' spin, mattam, 
But shug your laeno in a scull, 

And tidel highland sing, mattam ; 
Haud awa', baud awa', 

Haud awa* frae me, Donald ; 
Your jogging sculls and highland sang 

Will sound but harsh wi' me, Donald. 

In ta morning when him rise 

Ye*s get fresh whey for tea, mattam ; 
Sweet milk an ream as much you please. 

Far sheeper tan pohea, mattam. 
Haud awa', haud awa, 

Haud awa' frae me, Donald ; 
I winna quit my morning's tea ; 

Your whey will ne'er agree, Donald. 

Haper Gallic ye's be learn, 

And tat's ta ponny speak, mattam j 
Ye's get a cheese, an butter-kirn. 

Come wi' me kin ye like, mattam. 
Haud awa', haud awa*, 

Haud awa* frae me, Donald ; 
Your Gallic and your highland cheer 

Will ne'er gae down wi' me, Donald. 

Fait ye's pe ket a silder protch 

Pe pigger as the moon, mattam ; 
Ye's ride in curroch stead o' coach, 

An wow put ye'll pe fine, mattam. 


264 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


Haud awa', haud awa*, 
Haud awa' frae me, Donald j 

For a* your highland rarities, 
You're not a match for me, .Donald. 

What's tis ta way tat ye'U pe kind 
To a protty man like me, mattam ? 

Sae langs claymore pe py my side, 
I'll never marry tee, mattam. 

come awa', run awa', 

O come awa* wi* me, Donald ; 

1 wadna quit my highland man ; 
Frae Lawlands set me free, Donald. 


SONG XII. 


THE WOWING OF JOK AND JYNNY. 



Robeyns Jok cometo wow our Jyn-ny, On our feist-evin 


^m 


^ 


w 



quhen we wer fow ; Scho brank - it fast and maid her bon - nie, 


#j j; Hin^'jr fFFm 


And said, Jok, come ze for , to wow ? Scho bum - eist hir baith 


* Written before 1568. 


SCOTISH SONGS, 


265 


breist and brow, And maid her cleir as o - nyclok;TbaB spak hir 



C l Si^^/j.^lj j^ i 


dem«, and said, I trow, Ze come to wow our Jyn - ny, Jok 


Jok said, Forsuth I zern full fane, 

To luk my head, and sit doun by zow. 
Then spak hir modir, and said agane, 

My baime hes tocher gud anewch to ge zow ; 
Te he, quoth Jynny, keik, keik, I se zow ; 

Muder, yone man maks zow a mok. 
I schro the lyar, full leis me zow, 

I come to wow zour Jynny, quoth Jok. 

My beme, scho sayis, hes of hir awin, 

Ane guss, ane gryce, ane cok, ane hen, 
Ane calf, ane hog, ane sutbraid fawin, 

Ane kirn, ane pin, that ze weill ken, 
Ane pig, ane pot, ane raip thair ben, 

Ane fork, ane flaik, ane reill, ane rok, 
Dischis and dublaris n3me or ten : 

Come ze to wow our Jynny, Jok ? 


Ane blanket, and ane wecht also, 
Ane schule, ane scheit, and ane lang flail, 

Ane ark, ane almry, and laidills two, 
Ane milk syth, with ane swyne taill. 


266 SCOTISH SONGS, 

Ane rowsty quhittill to scheir the kaill, 
Ane quheill, ane mell the beu: to knok, . 

Ane coig, ane caird wantand ane naill : 
Come ze to wow our J3mny, Jok ? 

Anefurme, ane furlet, ane pott, ane pek, 

Ane tub, ane barrow, with ane quheilband, 
Ane turs, ane troch, and ane meil-sek, 

Ane spurtill braid, and ane elwand. 
Jok tuk Jynny be the hand. 

And cr/d, Ane feist \ and slew ane cok. 
And maid a brydell up alland : 

Now haif I gottin zour J)ainy, quoth Jok. 

Now, deme, I haif zour baime mareit ; 

Suppois ye mak it nevir sa twche, 
I latt zou wit schois nocht miskarrit, 

It is Weill kend gud haif I anewch. 
Ane crukit gleyd fell our ane huch, 

Ane spaid, ane speit, ane spur, ane sok, 
Withouttin oxin I haif a pluche, 

To gang togiddir Jynny and Jok. 

, I haif ane helter, and eik ane hek, 

Ane cord, ane creill, and als an cradill, 
* F)rve fidder of raggis to stuff ane jak, 
Ane auld pannell of ane laid sadill, 
Ane pepper polk maid of a padell, 

Ane spounge, ane spindall wantand ane nok, 
Twa lusty lippis to lik ane laiddill. 
To gang togidder Jynny and Jok. 


SCOTISH SONGS. 267 

r, 

Ane brechame, and twa brochis fyne, 

Weill buklit with a brydill renze, 
Ane sark maid of the Linkome twyne, 

Ane gay grene cloke that will nocht stenze, 
And zit for mister I will nocht fenze, 

F)rve hundirth fleis now in a flok ; 
Call ze nocht that ane joly menze, 

To gang togidder Jynny and Jok ? 

Ane trene truncheour, ane ramehome spone, 

Twa buttis of barkit blasnit ledder, 
All graith that gains to hobbill schone, 

Ane thrawcruk to twyne ane tedder, 
Ane drydill, ane girth, and ane swyne bledder, 

Ane maskene fatt, ane fetterit lok, 
Ane scheip weill kepit fra ill wedder, 

To gang togiddir J)niny and Jok. 

Tak thair for my parte of the feist ; 

It is weill knawin I am weill bodin ; 
Ze may nocht say my parte is leist. 

The wyfe said, Speid, the kaill ar soddin, 
And als the laverok is fust and loddin ; 

Quhen ze haif done tak hame the brok. 
The rost wes twche, sa wer thay bodin ; 

Syn gaid togiddir Jynny and Jok. 


268 


SCOTISH SONGS, 


SONG XIIL 


MUIRLAND WILLIE. 


I 


fe 


y^- -, , ■ q i ■■■ I ..J ..J ■ q ji 


^^ 


-^ 


j g g^ 


Heark - en, and I will tell you how, Young Mutrland Wil - lie 


* 


i\ '^ J J .pip 


t 


^ 



came to woo ; Tlio' he could net - ther say Bor do, The 


f#=PfNp 


f 


^^ 


^ 


* 


truth I tell to you. But aye he cries, Whatever be - tide, 


g f,'j-J'J i c j i J J p^ 


t 


Mag-gie I'se hae to be my bride. With a fal, dal, [dal, dal. 


f r-p f ^ rir^- r f rtrnii 


dal, de ral, dal, lal, la, ral, lal, la, dal, dal, dal. 

On his gray yade as he did ride, 
Wi' durk and pistol by his side, 
He prick'd her on wi' meikle pride, 

Wi' meikle mirth and glee ; 
Out o'er yon moss, out o'er yon muir, 
Till he came to her daddy's door, 
With a fal dal, &c. 

Gudeman, quoth he, be ye within, 
I 'm come your dochter's love to win ; 
I carena for making meikle din, 
What answer gi' ye me 1 


SCOTISH SONGS. 269 

Now, wooer, quoth he, would ye light down, 
I '11 gie ye my dochter's love to win. 
With a fal, dal, &c. 

Now, wooer, sin ye are lighted down. 
Where do ye win, or in what town ] 
I think my dochter winna gloom 

On sic a lad as ye. 
The wooer he stepp'd up the house. 
And wow but he was wond'rous crouse, 
With a fal dal, &c 

I have three owsen in a plough, 

Twa good ga'en yads, and gear enough, 

The place they ca' it Cadeneugh ; 

I scorn to tell a lie : 
Besides, I hae frae the great laird 
A peat pat, and a lang kail-yard. 
With a fal dal, &c. 

The maid put on her kirtle brown. 
She was the brawest in a' the town ; 
I wat on him she did na gloom. 

But blinkit bonnilie. 
The lover he stended up in haste. 
And gript her hard about the waist, 
With a fal dal, &c. 

To win your love, maid, I'm come here, 
I 'm young, and hae enough o' gear. 
And for myseP you need na fear. 
Troth try me whan ye like. 


2 70 SCOT/SJI SOJ^GS. 

He took aff his bonnet^ and spat out his chew, 
He dighted his gab, and he pri'd her mou', 
With a fal dal, &c. 

The maiden blush'd and bing'd fu' law, 
She had na will to say him na, 
But to her daddy she left it a*, 
As they twa could agree. 
The lover he ga'e her the tither kiss, 
Syne ran to her daddy, and tell*d him this, 
OVith a fal dal, &c. 

Your dochter wad na say me na, 
But to yoursel' she has left it a'. 
As we could gree between us twa ; 
Say what '11 ye gi* me wi' her 1 
Now, wooer, quo' he, I hae na meikle. 
But sic's I hae ye's get a pickle. 
With a fal dal, &a. 

A kilnfu* of com I '11 gi'e to thee. 

Three soums o' sheep, twa good milk kye, 

Ye's hae the wadding dinner free ; 

Troth I dow do nae mair. 
Content, quo' he, a bargain be *t ; 
I 'm far frae hame, make haste, let 's do 't, 
With a fal dal, &c. 

The bridal day it came to pass, 
With mony a blythsome lad and lass ; 
But sicken a day there never was, 
Sic mirth was never seen. 


SCOTISn SONGS. 

This winsome couple stroked hands, 
Mess John tied up the marriage bands, 
With a fal dal, &c. 

And our bride's maidens were na few, 
Wi' tap-knots, lug-knots, a' in blue, 
Frae tap to tae they were braw new, 

And blinkit bonnilie ; 
Their toys and mutches were sae clean, 
They glancfed in our ladses' een. 
With a fal dal, &c 

Sic hirdum, dirdum, and sic din, 
Wi' he o'er her, and she o'er him ; 
The minstrels they did never blin, 

Wr meikle mirth and glee. 
And aye they bobbit, and aye they beckt. 
And ay their wames together met. 
With a fal dal, &c. 


271 


SONG XIV. 


MAGGIE'S TOCHER. 



The meal was dear short syne, We buc-kled tis a' 


;)',> ;■ ,j' ;■ J.I J r J r _ j r- f n j. ;■ 


the • gi - ther ; And Ilag - gie was in her prime, When Wil - lie 


372 


SCOTISH SONGS. 



made court-ship till her: Twa pis > tola charged by guess, To 
gie the court - ing shot; And syne cam ben the lass, Wi' 


P 


r c r ^1^^ 



swats drawn frae the butt He first speer'd at the guid-man, And 


k r c ^ J' iJ' : 7 1 ^ ^' r 


syne at Giles the mi - ther. An ye wad gie's 


^> f f! f c I J. M' J J' J' n 


a bit land. We'd buc - kle us e*en the - gi - ther. 


My daughter ye shall hae, 
I '11 gie you her by the hand ; 
But I *11 part wi' my wife by my fae, 
Or I '11 part wi' my land. 
Your tocher it sail be good, 
There*s nane sail hae its maik, 
The lass bound in her snood> 
And Crummie who kens her stake : 
With an auld beddin' o claes. 
Was left me by my mither, 
They're jet black o'er wi* flaes, 
Ye may cuddle in them thegither. 


SCOTISff SONGS, 273 

Ye speak right weel, gudeman, 
But ye maun mend your hand, 
And think o' modesty, 
Gin ye 11 no quat your land : 
We are but young, ye ken, 
And now we 're gaun thegither, 
A house is but and ben, 
And Crummie will want her fother. 
The bairns are coming on. 
And they '11 cry, O their mither ! 
We have neither pat nor pan, 
But four bare legs thegither. 

Your tocher 's be gude enough. 
For that you needna fear, 
Twa gude stilts to the pleugh. 
And ye yoursel' maun steer : 
Ye shall hae twa gude pocks 
That anes were o' the tweel, 
The tane to haud the groats. 
The tither to haud the meal : 
Wi' an auld kist made of wands, 
And that sail be your coffer, 
Wi* aiken woody bands. 
And that may haud your tocher. 

Consider weel, gudeman, 
We hae but borrow'd gear. 
The horse that I ride on 
Is Sandy Wilson's mare : 


2 7 4 SCO TISH SONGS. 

The saddle 's nane o' my ain, 
An thae 's but borrow'd boots ; 
And whan that I gae hame, 
I maun take to my coots : 
The cloak is Geordy Watt's, 
That gars me look sae crouse ; 
Come fill us a cogue o' swats, 
We '11 mak na mair toom ruse. 

I like you weel, young lad, 

For telling me sae plain, 

I married when little I had 

O' gear that was my ain. 

But sin that things are sae, 

The bride she maun come furth, 

Tho' a' the gear she '11 hae, 

It '11 be but little worth. 

A bargain it maun be, 

Fy cry on Giles the mither ; 

Content am I, quo' she, 

E'en gar the hissie come hither. 

The bride she gade till her bed, 

The bridegroom he came till her ; 

The fiddler crap in at the fit, 

An they cuddl'd it a' thegither. 


SCOTISH SONGS, 


275 


SONG XV. 


WOO'D AND MARRIED AND A*. 


i 


^s 


?s=fEirt: 


J^^-^4N 


■3t=lt 


Woo'd and mar - ried and a', Mar • ried and woo'd and a', 


i 


^ A h 


^ 


N ^ ^ ^ 


6: 


S 


^^ 


Was she na ver - y weel aff, Was woo'dand mar -ried and 



^r c i ^J n^ ^^rn jy p ^ 


a'? The bride cam out of the byre, And oh as she 


:ts=fs=tE 


JTT7T 


r g P D r Hi : 


^ 1 ^ rf 


dight - ed her cheeks, Sirs, I 'm to be mar-ried the night, And hae 


f r f f ^ K f Fj^ 



nei - ther blan • kets nor sheets ; Hae nei-ther blan-kets nor sheets, Nor 


y f p c ;-c=f^^T^^-fr^ 


scarce a co - ver - let too The bride that has a' to 


i 


|S=K=4s 


: il\ r-IU J' J' 


bor - row Has e'en right mei - kle a - do. Woo'd and married, &c. 


Out spak the bride's father, 
As he cam in frae the plough ; 

O haud yer tongue, my dochter, 
And ye's get gear enough ; 


276 SCOTISH SONGS, 

The stirk that stands i' the tether, 
And our braw bawsand yade, 

Will carry ye hame your com; 
AVhat wad ye be at, ye jade ? 
Woo'd and married, &c. 


Out spak the bride's mither ; 

What d — ^1 needs a' this pride 1 
I had nae a plack in my pouch 

That night I was a bride ; 
My gown was linsy-woolsy, 

And ne'er a sark, ava ; 
And ye hae ribbons and buskins, 

Mae than ane or twa. 
Woo'd and married, &c. 

What's the matter? quo' Willie; 

Tho' we be scant o' claes, 
We '11 creep the nearer thegither, 

And we '11 smoor a' the fleas : i 

Simmer is coming on, | 

And we'll get taits o' woo; 
And we '11 get a lass o' our ain, 

And she '11 spin claes enew. 
Woo'd and married, &c. 


Out spak the bride's brither, 
As he cam in wi' the kye ; 

Poor Willie had ne'er a ta'en ye. 
Had he kent ye as weel as I ; 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


277 


For you ^re baith proud and saucy, 
And no for a poor man s wife ; 

Gin I canna get a better, 
Ise never tak ane i' my life. 
Woo*d and married, &c. 

Out spak the bride*s sister, 
As she cam in frae the b)n*e ; 

gin I were but married, 
It 's a' that I desire : 

But we poor folk maun live single, 
And do the best we can ; 

1 dinna care what I should want, 

If I could but get a man. 
Wood and married, &c. 


SONG XVI. 


THE BLYTHSOME "BRIDAL." 


m 


BY FRANCIS SEMPLE OF BELTREES. 


i 


^ 


f 


Fy, let us all to the brid - del. For there will be 


m 


s 


E 


i 


^ 1 ^ H---*^=5=* , 

lilt - ing there; For Jockie's to be mar-ried to Mag-gie, The 


m 


^ 



^ 


lass with the gaud - en hair. And there will be lang-kail and 


SCOTISH SONGS. 



Msggie.Thela! 


And there will be Sandie the sutor, 

And Willie with the meikle mow ; 
And there will be Tom the ploutter, 

And Andrew the tinkler I trow. 
And there will be bow-legged Robbie, 

With thurabless Katie's gudeman ; 
And there will be blue-cheeked Dallie, 

And Lawrie the laird of the land. 
Fy, let us all, &c 

And there will be sow-libber Peatie, 

And plouckie-faced Wat in the mill, 
Capper-nosed Gibbie, and Francie, 

That wons in the how of the hill ; 
And there will be Alaster-Dowgal, 

That splee-fitted Bessie did woo, 
And sneevling LilUe, and Tibbie, 

And Kirstie, that belly-god sow. 
Fy, let us all, &c. 


SCOTISH SONGS. 279 

And Crampie that married Stainie, 

And coft him breeks to his arse, 
*' Wha after was" hanged for stealing, 

Great mercy it hapned no warse : 
And there will be faimtickled Hew, 

And Bess with the lily-white leg, 
That *'gade" to the south for breeding, 

And banged up her wame in Mons-meg.* 
Fy, let us all, &c. 

And there will be Geordie McCowrie, 

And blinking dafl Barbra and Mag, 
And there will be blencht Gillie-whimple, 

And pewter-faced flitching Joug ; 
And there will be happer-arsed Nanzie, 

And fairy-faced Jeanie be name, 
Gleed Katie, and fat-lugged Lizzie, 

The lass with the gauden wame. 
Fy, let us all, &c. 

And there will be gim-again Gibbie, 

And his glaked wife Jeanie BeU, 
And mizlie-cliinn'd flyting Geordie, 

The lad that was skipper himsel'. 
There '11 be all the lads and the lasses. 

Set down in the midst of the Ha', 
With sybows, and rysarts, and carlings. 

That are both sodden and raw. 
Fy, let us all, &c. 

* A large old-fashioned cannon, made of iron bars, and capable 
of holding two people. It was (for some reason of State, perhaps) 


28o SCOTISH SONGS. 

There will be tartan, dragen and brachen, 

And fouth of good gappocks o' skate, 
Pow-sodie, and drammock, and crowdie, 

And callour nout feet in a plate ; 
And there will be partans and buckies, 

Speldens and haddocks anew, 
And sing'd sheep-heads, and a haggize. 

And scadlips to sup till ye 're fow. 
Fy, let us all, &c. 

There will be good lapper'd-milk kebbucks, 

And sowens, and farles and baps, 
With swats, and well-scraped paunches, 

And brandie in stoups and in caps : 
And there will be meal-kail and castocks. 

And skink to sup till you rive ; 
And rosts to rost on a brander 

Of flouks that was taken alive. 
Fy, let us all, &c. 

Scrapt haddocks, wilks, dulse, and tangle, 

And a mill o' gude sneeshin' to prie ; 
Then weary with eating and*drinking. 
We '11 rise up and dance till we die. 
Fy, let us all to the briddel. 

For there will be lilting there j 
For Jockie's to be married to Maggie, 
The lass with the gauden hair. 

lately removed from Edinburgh to the Tower. [This^lpiece of ord- 
nance was sent back to Edinburgh in 1829 at the solicitation of Sir 
Walter Scott— Ed.] 


J 


SCOTISH SOA^GS. 


281 


SONG XVII. 

JOHNNIE'S GREY BREEKS. 


1^1 f p a- Sf I '^"lj4j-^:^J^ 


When I was in my se'n-teen year, I wasbaithblytheand 


|^sj-j-gficc £ f-a4^:i^'^-j^i^^ : 


bon-nie, O; The lads lo'ed me baith far and near, But I lo'ed 


f,ji'NtiUi'::^^ 


nane but John-nie, O. He gainM my heart in twa three weeks, He 


^m 


m 




MHhn 


spake sae blythe and kind - ly, O ; And I made him new 


I 


^ 


fc 


:fe 


r-faj' £r H ^p n i^ ^ 


grey breeks,That fit - ted him most fine-ly, O : He gain'd my heart in 


i 


^ 


-•-# 


c Pfii; c v^K '^ ^ 


^^ 


twa three weeks. He spake sae blythe and kindly, O; And I made 


$ 


^ 


fc 


|££fc^lr^-^yi 


1S^==K 


him new grey breeks, That fit -ted him most fine - ly, O. 

He was a handsome fellow, 

His humour was baith frank and free, 
His bonnie locks sae yellow, 

Like gowd they glittered in my e'e ; 


282 SCOTISff SONGS. 

His dimpled chin and rosy cheeks, 
And face so fair and ruddy, O, 

And then-a-days his grey breeks 
Were neither auld nor duddy, O. 

But now they are threadbare worn, 

They're wider than they wont to be, 
They 're tash'd-like, and sair torn, 

And clouted sair on ilka knee. 
But gin I had a simmer's day, 

As I have had right mony, O, 
I 'd make a web o' new grey. 

To be breeks to my Johnnie, O. 

For he 's well wordy o' them, 

And better gin I had to gie, 
And I '11 tak pains upon them, 

Frae fau'ts I'll strive to keep them free. 
To dead him weel shall be my care, 

And please him a' my study, O ; 
But he maun wear the auld pair 

A wee, tho' they be duddy, O. 


For when the lad was in his prime, 
Like him there werena mony, O ; 

He ca'd me aye his bonnie thing, 
" Sae" wha wadna lo'e Johnnie, O ? 

So I lo'e Johnnie's grey breeks, 

- For a' the care they 've gi'en me yet, 

And gin we live anither year. 

We'll mak them hale between us yet. 


SCOTISff SONGS. 

Now to conclude his grey breeks, 

I '11 sing them up wi' mirth and glee ; 
Here's luck* to all the grey steeks, 

That show themselves upon the knee ; 
And if wi* health I'm spared 

A wee while, as I may, 
I shall hae them prepared, 

As weel as ony that 's o' grey. 


283 


SONG XVIII. 


THE AULD GUDEMAN. 


frv^TiY^mn^ 


K=It 


Late in an eve - ning forth I went, A lit - tie be - fore the 


I 


^ 


ff=K 


i 


?V=fii 


^ 


^ 


w — w-^ 


-•— ^ 


*3t 


sun gaed down,And there I chanced by ac - ci - dent To 



light on a bat - tie new be - gun. A man and his 


t^ Me r r ^^ J'U'^'MJ J' l 


wife were faun in a strife, I can - na weel tell ye 


i^j' j'p r j'l;^ ^n p i ff f 


how it be - gan ; But aye she wail'd her wretch - ed 


I 


* 


^ 


^ T : 1 I 


N f^ 


life. And cried cv - er, A - lake my auld gude-mau. 


284 SCOTISH SONGS, 

He. 

Thy auld gudeman that thou tells of, 

The country kens where he was bom, 
Was but a silly puir vagabond, 

And ilka ane leugh him to scorn 
For he did spend, and mak an end 

Of gear that his forefathers wan, 
He gart the puir stand frae the door — 

Sae tell nae mair of thy auld gudeman. 

She. 

My heart, alake, is liken to break. 

When I think on my winsome John, 
His blinkin' e'e, and gait sae free, 

Was naething like thee, thou dosend drone. 
His rosy face, and flaxen hair, 

And a skin as white as ony swan. 
Was large and tall, and comely withall. 

And thou It never be like my auld gudeman. 

He. 

Why dost thou pleen % I thee maintain, 

For meal and maut thou disna want ; 
But thy wild bees I canna please, 

Now when our gear gins to grow scant 
Of household stuff thou hast enough. 

Thou wants for neither pot nor pan ; 
Of siclike ware he left thee bare — 

Sae tell nae mair of thy auld gudeman. 


SCOTISff SONGS, 28s 

She. 

Yes, I may tell, and fret mysel'. 

To think on these blythe days I had, 
When he and I thegither lay 

In arms into a weel-made bed. 
But now I sigh, and may be sad, 

Thy courage is cauld, thy colour wan. 
Thou faulds thy feet, and fa's asleep, 

And thou 'It ne'er be like my auld gudeman. 

Then coming was the night sae dark. 

And gane was a* the light of day ; 
The carle was fear'd to miss his mark. 

And therefore wad nae langer stay. 
Then up he gat, and he ran his way. 

I trow the wife the day she wan. 
And aye the o'erword of the fray 

Was ever, Alake my auld gudeman. 


286 


SCOTISH SONGS. 


SONG XIX. 


TAK YOUR AULD CLOAK ABOUT YOU.* 


fit jifFr^c i r-F ^JV-'"iiJ' i 


In win-ter, w! 


len the rain rain'd cauld, And frost and snaw on 


fli'iJ^J^^If/M'Clr; J.^tH'J' 


ilk - a hill, And Bo - reas, wi' his blasts sae bauld,Was threatening 


i|^"J. %.J'j. l | JV'JH ^t br W^ 


a' our kye to kill, Then Bell my wife, wha lo'es nae strife, She 



said to me right hast - i - lie, Get up, gude-man, save 


<f,>" ^.tui\^. 


^ 


m 


3 


Crum-mie's life, And tak your auld cloak a - bout ye. 


* Dr Percy, though he supposes this to be originally a Scotish 
ballad, has given an ancient copy of it, from his folio MS. in the 
English idiom, with an additional stanza (the second) never before 
printed. See the ** Reliques of Ancient English Poetry," &c., vol. 
i. p. 190. The additional stanza is as follows : — 

** O Bell, why dost thou flyte and scome I 

Thou kenst my cloak is very thin : 
It is so bare and overworne, 

A cricke he thereon cannot renn : 
Then He noe longer borrowc nor lend, 

* For once He new appareld bee. 
To-morrow He to towne and spend,' 

For He have a new cloake about me." 


SCOTISH SONGS. 287 

My Crummie is a usefu' cow, 

And she is come of a gude kin ; 
Aft has she wet the bairns' mou, 

And I am laith that she should tyne ; 
Get up, gudeman, it is fu' time, 

The sun shines frae the lift sae hie ; 
Sloth never made a gracious end, 

Gae tak your auld cloak about ye. 


My cloak was anes a gude grey cloak, 

When it was fitting for my wear ; 
But now it 's scantly worth a groat, 

For I have worn *t this thretty year ; 
Let 's spend the gear that we hae won, 

We little ken the day we '11 die : 
Then I '11 be proud, since I have sworn 

To hae a new cloak about me. 


In days when our king Robert rang, 

His trews they cost but hauf a croun ; 
He said they were a groat o'er dear, 

And ca'd the tailor thief and loon : 
He was the king that wore a croun. 

And thou the man of laigh degree, 
'Tis pride puts a' the country doun, 

Sae tak thy auld cloak about thee.* 

* This stanza, with a little variation, as "king Stephen" for 
"king Robert" is sung by lago, in Shakspeare's tragedy of 
Othello, act ii. scene 3. 


288 SCOTISH SONGS. 

Ilka land has its ain laigh,* 

Ilk kind of com it has its hool. 
I think the warld is a' gane wrang, 

When ilka wife her man wad nde ; 
Do ye not see Rob, Jock, and Hab, 

As they are girded gallantlie. 
While I sit hurklen in the asse ; 

1 11 hae a new cloak about me. 

Gudeman, I wat it's thretty year 

Sin* we did ane anither ken ; 
And we have had between us twa. 

Of lads and bonnie lasses ten : 
Now they are women grown and men, 

I wish and pray weel may they be ; 
And if you prove a gude husband, 

E'en tak your auld cloak about ye. 

Bell my wife, she lo'es nae strife ; 

But she wad guide me, if she can. 
And to maintain an easy life, 

I aft maun yield, tho' I'm gudeman* 
Nocht 's to be wdn at woman's hand, 

Unless ye gie her a' the plea ; 
Then I *11 leave aff where I began, 

And tak my auld cloak about me. 

* <* Laigh/' the imdrainable portion of a farm, as useless as the 
<* hool" is of the com.— Ed. 


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